In the United States, 42% of women reported gender discrimination in the workplace, while only 22% of men experienced gender bias . In the novel The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, one of the main characters, Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Jaax, gives us a concrete example of sexism in the workplace. The obstacles Nancy faced were not only degrading, but also damaging to her reputation. Rumors spread around her workplace that she was unable to perform her duties, assumptions were made about her personal life, and men surrounding her line of work doubted her potential, all because they considered less as a woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Additionally, ignorant rumors spread about Nancy's hands, implying that she would not be fit to work in hot level 4 agents. Nancy's co-workers and peers commented on how fast and anxious her hands were. News of these rumors reached Lt. Col. Tony Johnson, who would decide whether she was suitable for work in the Ebola zone. Preston explains this on page ++: “He watched her hands while she spoke. They seemed good to him, neither clumsy nor too fast either. He decided that the rumors he had heard about his hands were unfounded. Her colleagues assume that her hands are nervous and unsuitable for the job due to the stereotype of Victorian women. “The other criticism leveled at Nancy is that her hands move too quickly...the idea that women are hysterical and susceptible to nervous excitability.” They don't literally question her hands but her strength of mind under pressure, mainly when supervised by (mostly male) scientists. Similarly, when Nancy applied to the pathology group, the colonel in charge was hesitant to give her the job because she was a “married woman.” He assumed that because she was a woman with a family, she was not capable of dangerous work. “He told her: 'This job is not for a married woman. Either you will neglect your work or you will neglect your family. » At first glance, you might think he only said this out of fear that her work would consume her. However, none of the other men who applied for the position were successful due to their marriages. He may not have been aware of her prejudices, but he insinuated that because she was married her work should not be in the pathologists group. By the end of the book, Nancy had neither ignored her work nor her family. She was used to being with her children and having enough time to care for them between her shifts. Such discrimination dates back to the 19th century, when women were forced to serve only the men of the household. Their main goal was to maintain a domestic kingdom. Professor Kathy Bates said: “Wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to supervise domestic chores which were increasingly carried out by servants. » Nancy was considered unfit for her job because a man had stereotyped her into that category, not as an equal, but as a married woman. As a result, the men around her doubted her skills, because of her gender. An example of this was whenever Conol Tony Johnson interviewed Nancy's husband before interviewing him. This in itself can be seen as perpetuating gender stereotypes. To make his..