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Women In Policing: Sex, Police Culture, And The Future Equal Opportunities ...

WOMEN IN POLICING: SEX, POLICE CULTURE, AND THE FUTURE

Equal Opportunities and Policing
When the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced in 1975, it became illegal to discriminate against an individual on the basis of gender or marriage. Implementing this legislation, however, proved difficult in the world of employment in general and in the area of policing in particular. For several years following the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act, unofficial quotas were used to promote the active recruitment of policewomen. Despite the fact that there was definite resistance to the implementation of the Sex Discrimination Act in police work, these quotas were illegal. Subsequent to the Scarman Report (1981), it became markedly more difficult to justify the rejection of an egalitarian attitude toward the workplace; still, the incorporation of women into the field of police work is by no means complete even today.
The successful integration of women into many types of work environments has been difficult, if not altogether painful. Yet the nature of policing makes it such that the assimilation of women is particularly arduous. Why is this? It could be asserted that gender issues raise pertinent questions about the essence of police work as a whole.
The Reality of Life as a Policewoman: The Cult of Masculinity
Although many advances have been made regarding women in policing since the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, there are still definite obstacles impeding the total assimilation of women into the police force. The evidence for these issues can be found in many places. There is a universally acknowledged phenomenon in policing where extreme masculine qualities, particularly aggressive ones, are displayed and expected of those who would be seen as successful. This phenomenon is known as the ‘cult of masculinity' and seems to stem from extreme notions of heterosexuality, which promote a certain view of what it means to be male. This form of masculinity seeks to subordinate both femininity and the form of masculinity that does not adhere to the ruling masculine stereotype. There can be several kinds of masculinity in operation at one time. The cult of masculinity promotes a ‘hard-line', aggressive approach to conflict instead of a more tolerant approach. It glorifies ultra-masculine stereotypes, which tend to be oppressive toward women. Further, it creates a power struggle between groups of people, pitting the followers of the cult of masculinity against those who oppose it or simply choose not to join it.
It is particularly this power struggle, the us-them dichotomy created by the cult of masculinity that makes life in the police force so difficult for women. One study on the working lives of police officers suggested that women were not given the same calibre jobs as men on a daily basis. At one police station it was reported that women accounted for 43% of officers under the age of 30 that were assigned to station duty.


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