Issue Of The Week, VIII: Oh, Those Plexiglas Ceilings: If Only They Could Melt Away…

The essay does a nice job of showing why ceilings whether they be glass, plexiglass, or silver are wrong. It also asks the extremely important question of if we all work together could be destroy these 'ceilings'.I believe that if everyone worked together then yes we could destroy these ceilings but the fact is that this will probably never happen all at one time but rather over a long period of time. While i think everyone certaintly knew of how their were ceilings that stopped many minorities and also genders from rising up in the corporate world however i did not that there was also now a silver ceiling that stopped the eldery from moving up. I think that these ceilings are also a sign that prejudices are not resigned soley to lower or upper classes but rather this evil has permeated all classes.

I think that over time some of the glass ceilings can be removed from society. I think that as the world changes and people become more aware of the "glass ceiling" they will then look deeper into this situation. I think that this can be overcome because if people want something in their lives bad enough they are going to make sure that they get it. i also think that it was interesting because some of the older people in the community are getting laid off is a bad indicator because it is showing that the world that we live in is cruel, but with time i think that we can change many of the bad things that have accumulated over the years.

As the article mentioned, most of the time glass ceilings go unnoticed. I personally have felt the effects of a glass ceiling (or a silver ceiling) on my family. My father was recently laid off from work because of the "economy". He was laid off with about 40 other employees, in which more than half were over the age of 50. Coincidence? I don't think so. Although, my father does an excellent job, I believe he was chosen to be laid off because of his age (62). To make matters worse, he had been working for this same company for over 25 years and was only 5 years until retirement.

The comparison to glass and Plexiglas is an accurate analyst to show the restrictions that are put in place to restrict certain people from gaining a type job that pays more and has more responsibility. There are different types of glass that restrict people from gaining positions in corporations like CEO’s and CFO’s. There are no glass or Plexiglas ceilings but there are for women and other minorities. Other minorities that have the hard obstacle of breaking through glass are black people, gays, old people and people with different ethnic background. Even though it is said that people have fair and equal treatment in obtaining a job that is not the case as the article put it. Few people have advantages that they use to obtain a job and more money, what makes them so special that makes them receive special treatment in the workforce? If they have better experience then okay but if it’s because there white and the other person is black is an immature answer. People deserve fair treatment; some corporations are finally coming to their senses and are doing that to people in their company.

This essay about people having ceilings is true. Even though I have not experienced it personally, I have seen other people go through it. There are ceilings, whether it is glass or Plexiglas, everywhere. There are different ceilings and each put a cap on something different. These caps can sometimes prevent for one from achieving a goal or position. The ceilings that are put above someone are not fair. No one no matter their race, class, or gender should have a certain ceiling above them because it isn't fair. Ceilings are just barriers that someone else came up with to prevent others from becoming like them or actually passing them and doing better. It has completely changed our lives.

I agree with the article in that there are a number of ceilings in our lives that seek to confine us to certain limitations. I liked the analogy that he used when he refered to them a plexiglas. I thought that it brought up a very good point in that some of the ceiling cannot be shattered as easily as others, and that some of them can take a lot of damage before they finally break. However, I do not agree with the author that the ceilings will always be there because they take more energy then we as a poeple can muster. I believe that our nation is becoming closer and closer to finally removing all of these ceilings. With laws and organizations people a terring these ceilings down, i believe it is only a matter of time untill all of these ceilings come crashing down.

The idea of a ceiling on opportunity is not something I am very conscious of. As a white female raised in a matriarchal family I don’t have the concept of a ceiling that many women have. The strong women in my family set a precedent that I’ve worked hard to achieve as well. That being said, what would I do on my own to crack the ceiling? I think I’d do a lot. I don’t like to be told I can’t do something, or denied an opportunity that others get. I would like to believe that I’d be the fighter seeking change for all, that I’d never leave a woman behind. In my past life as a career woman, I was a fierce contract negotiator. I love the structuring of a deal, it truly lights a fire in me. At one point I realized that my male counter-part was being offered 15% more than I made. There were all kinds of reasons why that was happening (according to HR, he was a free market acquisition where as I was an internal promotion), but none of them were acceptable to me. I literally resigned the position rather than do a job for a lower wage. I was pretty proud of this story until I remembered the reason I could quit over this was because I was married to a privileged white male who could support our family. Ugh.

I think whiteness and the privileges white people are given created the ceiling. The glass ceiling started as a gender problem, but grew into a much bigger one. The ceiling today involves race, sex, and sexuality. The ceiling was created to reinforce white privilege, and whiteness. The plexiglas ceiling is a much more accurate statement, because people can't just break through the ceiling. In order to just reach the ceiling a person must match certain critera. They must behave as they are white, and give up their cultural heritage.

Ceilings do exist in the corporate world and many others. Growing up I have always heard of this person breaking through the glass ceiling, or this other person cant seem to break through that glass ceiling. I do agree on the plexiglass ceiling though. For example, recently a woman won the Oscar for best director, and was the first woman to do so. She had broke through that ceiling. But just because she broke through that, doesn't mean that it is going to remain broken for all other women. Thats the problem with this. The glass ceiling always seems to rebuild itself, never truly opening the door for steps forward. Yes, it is very good to see that one or two people are breaking those ceilings, but its sad that these breakthroughs are not truly breakthroughs for the people of the same race or gender.

Throughout this article it is proven that minorities and women are not treated equal in the work force. Men have always worked in this countries history and they were seen as the hunters. This made them superior to the women and the women just stayed back and managed the camp. Now men continue to strive in the work force. At times in history women also did the same. When the men were fighting in WWII, the women stayed at home and did the jobs the men did. That proved that if they have the same opportunities they can also succeed. I believe that they havent had the same opportunities as men. For every one hundred dollars a man makes, a women of the same position will only make seventy-two. This is an awful stat for the fact that they should be making the same amount. The author of this article has a good point when she say that “the glass ceiling is a catchall for all the other ceilings.” I believe that this should change and if the quality of their work is the best, they should get paid the most.

I love this article, because it is very obvious that the plexiglass cieling still exists today for many people. No matter how hard they may work and try to go higher in society, it is just not happening. Men have always been at the top and dominating, and even though women have came a long ways, they aren't able to get even higher than they have already achieved. Yet, not only are women the ones with this ceiling on top of them, now many people ranging from race, religiong, sex are confronted with various ceilings and are not allowed to move along because they are not allowed. Will it ever go away, I do not think so because there are those who are so inclined with staying powerful and not letting anybody else succeed that there will always be this plexiglass ceiling. It may take a very long time for this to "melt" away.

Glass ceilings in today’s society are no superstition, but are a dominant part of American society. The two main people that are affected by the glass ceilings are woman and African Americans. These two groups feel the full affects of the glass ceilings, like un proportional salaries. Being a white male I don’t feel the affects of the glass ceilings that proves that white males still have a great control over American Society. Because white males are not affected by the glass ceiling they are able to gain power. White males usually receive better salaries and are more likely to get a promotion. Their ability to easily become wealthier and raise the business ranks keeps them in power. They are able to call the shots and control business, which gives them almost complete control. The glass ceiling is just another mechanism created by the white male, to insure his power over society.

These so called glass and Plexiglas ceilings very much exist in the work place. In my opinion I think they exist in most work places, but not all. I feel like if the work is put in we can get rid of most of these ceilings. But you are always going to run into some work places who just won’t accept the fact that times have changed and women and men of any race are equal to the white man. But I trusty in America that they will be able to get rid of these ceilings and give everyone an equal opportunity in the work place. But it’s going to take time and work for this to happen.

This article points out the inequality the women and minorities are shown in this nation in the work force, education, and everyday life. The answer to breaking this cycle is to break down and throw away the moral backround rules of this society who has been socially constructed to think this way through generations. We must become allies with one another other wise i just don't know how our nation will get over the inequalities in out nation today.

The divided glass illustration in the article paints a pretty picture of what our society looks like today. We may have the first Amendment "the freedom of speech and expression", but we are not all privileged to experience this freedom. Whites are free to express themselves in any way they choose, but if those who are of a different race tried to express themselves freely (as what the Amendment implies), they are either ignored or taken as offensive. This is the same between the glass wall among men and women; we still live in a patriarchal society, where men are given more privileges in all aspects of life than women are. Three years ago, I was an Assistant Manager at a movie theater; even though I worked twice as hard as the guy managers, I was not given a .50 cent raise like they were, and I was not given any slack like they were given. It is crucial to be aware of these barriers between races and men and women, so that people can stand up to make the system right.

Though our world is divided by these seemingly unbreakable Plexiglas ceilings and walls, there is always some exception to the rule. There have been many women who have risen to places of authority state governors, business owners, politicians. The United States has even elected a half African American as president, and if we had not elected Barrack Obama as president than we would have our first female vice president Sara Palin. True it may be more difficult to for females and people of ethnic origin other than Caucasian to rise above the white male but it is not impossible. And though this article makes a good point I do not believe that this is the main issue that we as Americans should be completely focused on. I believe that one of the bigger issues that arises is not only acceptance in the work place but as a social community.

I want to see the where a person can walk into any area of town and see more a diverse ethnicity of people interacting with each other. Not just all African Americans on one side of town, Hispanics on another and the White people living in the Skyscraper apartments. But a mix of all different backgrounds living together and not in fear of each other because of stereotypes.

This is not to say that people of the same ethnicity should not live in the same area because in that respect they bring their family culture with them and i think that too is also as important as social diversity.

Many people complain about unequal pay rates and promotions in the work place, but I didn't hear any complaining in high school when the scholarships for ethnicity were handed out. The fact is we all appreciate a helping hand and a fair world, but as this world has come of reason and fair understanding it takes time for the effects of our changes in judgment to catch up and be seen by the world. In a few decades everything could be equal and if affirmative action is taken to far it could actually be unfair in the other direction. The same thing goes for the elderly. The effects of uncontrolled procreation and the high want for large families are being seen now and many elderly are not happy with the results. In the end social security which I have been paying into for the last decade may fail and I won’t receive any of the money I put in to the system, is that fair. The fact is we live in a changing world and have to take things as they come. The world may never be fair or equal and we may always be counteracting the imbalance. Do not interpret this as me saying things are fine being unequal or that I’m happy with the system, but just that it takes time to change and if we move too fast in that change we could cause an even greater imbalance.

Their is a lot to complain about when you really boil down affirmative action and see it for what it really is: reverse discrimination. It is a means to promote those we deemed incapable of promoting themselves. It easy to complain about it until you consider the horror of slavery. Much in the same it is easy to think White people have always had it easy until you consider the dark stain of the holocaust. Whatever the generation, whatever the people, however rich or poor the nation may be or however educated the people may be, their will always be discrimination. When you think in terms of immortality of discrimination you don't feel quite as bad about being the nation that is known for giving handouts for people who maybe don't deserve them, or maybe they do. If it has to be one way or another wouldn't it be better to be the nation that at least tries to right the wrongs inflicted to each ethnic group who has ever been enslaved or exterminated? It would be wonderful to live in a place that didn't need any helping hands because no one was ever judged based on their skin color, religion, or sexual preference but the fact is that place does not exist. Maybe if this is the best we can do lets just take it and be happy.

I agree with ACU-20 on the fact that the workplace is very unfair to the minorities, but yet we get the best opportunity for advancement because of all the scholarships that are available for the minorities. As a minority, I am taking advantage of the great opportunities that have been given to me. I often hear from other minorities that I am becoming too white, that I am smart and think I'm better than them, that I will only get far in life because I pretend I'm not and not sticking to my roots. Which in fact, none of those comments are true. I work strongly with the Abilene Hispanic community to encourage young students not to give up. I want to be a great example to them. The world will never be equal, but we must not sit back and complain and wait for things to change, we must go out there and do something about it.

We as a society, as individuals, created the illustrious “Glass Ceiling” and now the “impenetratable Plexiglas.” We are familiar with the term “Survival of the Fittest” and generally know it to be an animalistic behavior. Yet, man has created their own “Survival of the Fittest” the “Inpenetratable Plexiglas.” We live in existence of always reaching for the sky and for those that penetrate or break through the “Glass Ceiling” the “Sky is the Limit.” When we chose to limit our ability to go beyond the ‘Glass Ceiling” we in turn limit our potential to achieve that which is greater and obtainable. I have seen members of minority groups such as Hispanics, Women, aspire to achieve more than realized. We subject our children and our future generations when we succumb to “the Glass Ceiling Effect” We pass this mannerism of thinking as a limit to what man as always been capable of achieving all along. We hold onto the “Glass Ceiling Effect” as a means for a good excuse to limit our capability to reach for the sky. In essence, if we fail to achieve what we set out to achieve we can always blame it on the ‘Glass Ceiling.” As a member of a minority group and a woman; I am the only set back in determining what I want to achieve. I refuse to pass along the “Glass Ceiling Effect” to my young Hispanic daughters. The “Glass Ceiling” is breakable and the “Plexiglas” “recyclable” when we refuse to pass it along from one generation to the other. Let us use the “recyclable Plexiglas” to build the ladder of success.

I feel that the key problem with the notion of the glass, or Plexiglas ceiling is that an individual is able to look at the person and or group that is ‘above’ them and compare qualities. What I mean by this is that someone who is a young up and comer with a great track record might be held up instead of advancing through the structural ranks because a person in front of them is a ‘veteran’ or has more experience than the younger person. In my opinion you would like for this person to work side by side with the older more experienced person so they can gain knowledge and wisdom that will suite them well in the future.
Although the example I talked about is definitely on the lighter side of the glass ceiling the real problem in my opinion is the lack of equality that is culturally accepted. It seems to be the type of issue that everyone knows about but nobody wants to approach it because either they won’t be heard or they do not want to ruffle the feathers of the people in charge. Say for instance the vast gap between a woman’s salary and that of a male in the same position. Same credentials, same experience, same education but still a difference in salary. While I still cannot begin to find any kind of logic within this difference in how someone is paid based on sex, ethnicity, or age it still exists and is part of our everyday lives. It seems that another woman’s rights movement might be in order to finally gain equality in America.

many times I've heard of the concept of the glass ceiling and of being limited for certain things like race or gender, but I did not think about the feeling being imposed on oneself. Or they also mentioned a religious feeling. However now I can see that would be true, especially in my country, for example 99.9% of the culture is one religion and so there is certainly an attitude about people who do not follow that same religion who live in the same country. I didn't think that as a ceiling before now. Sometimes it feels frustrated after reading articles like these although awareness can bring about change where ignoring the issue will only keep it the same.