China Airlines recently flew its first-ever flight of all-male flight attendants. Elsewhere, Taiwan’s armed forces have all-female tank crews. Although these appear to be isolated anomalies, they reveal a loosening of long-held social assumptions about gender-defined occupations.
Such a shift should symbolize progress, allowing people to pursue careers based on their interests and abilities. However, the wave of sarcasm and mockery that followed online suggested that there is still a long way to go before true workplace equality is achieved.
Although there was no shortage of supportive voices on social media, there was still excessive scrutiny aimed specifically at gender.
Some questioned whether an all-male cabin crew could deliver sufficiently attentive service, while others doubted the ability of female thankers.
It seems that those who pursue careers that run counter to societal gender expectations must first overcome the “gender” barrier to prove their competence.
When the public’s first instinct is to look at someone’s gender rather than performance, it becomes clear how deeply gender stereotypes are embedded in workplace culture — and how they build a high wall that separates and confines people.
When discussing gender equality in the workplace, an invisible barrier is often overlooked: occupational sex segregation. Why is it that, when certain professions are mentioned, a particular gender immediately comes to mind? It is not simply a matter of innate talent, but the result of long-term social construction.
Such segregation occurs in two ways.
First is horizontal segregation, where a specific gender is steered toward certain industries or positions. For example, there is an assumption that men should serve as tankers, while women should be flight attendants.
Second is vertical segregation, where senior positions are disproportionately occupied by one gender within the same industry, or the “glass ceiling.”
If we are to pursue true workplace equality, we must stop presuming a person’s competence based on their gender. These barriers must be dismantled from education to recruitment, allowing talent to circulate on the basis of professionalism rather than gender.
Whether it is women serving as tankers to defend the nation or male flight attendants providing warm-hearted services, those who push through traditional boundaries remind us of a simple truth: What limits development has never been gender, but rather the lack of imagination.
I look forward to a day when society no longer filters talent through the lens of gender, but focuses purely on people’s passion and expertise. When that day arrives, we would naturally embrace the most attentive flight attendants in the cabin and the most competent tankers — regardless of their gender.
Su Yi-hua is a graduate student in Tunghai University’s Department of Social Work.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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