Where do I start? If a women does not put in the time to raise her kids then who would. We always say the children are our future, but why are we not helping the women who raise these kids. These children that are becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and helping America be where it is at today. It is not women who are the only ones being affected, but the families too. If a son grows up without seeing his father being active in his life, because the father must work in order to help pay the bills. We are messing up generations of families.
The wage-gap between males and females has been a very serious topic ever since women emerged as members of the labor force. In families where both parents are present and contribute financially put themselves in positions where they can be more stable for their children and invest in their development. This occurrence in society greatly benefits the country in regards to the standard of education and reach of the future members of the labor force. This debate should begin with the mommy track, rather than with proofy statistics. - Maulford Smith
I always knew that there was a pay gap between the genders but I know I'm the beginning it was intentional. For one women weren't granted the same jobs men were so they weren't even given the opportunity to make the same amount of money. Now it's more likely to see women with similar jobs as men but I wasn't sure exactly what the pay gap is now and why we still even have a pay gap. I attributed it to the gap being within the jobs that women haven't quite dominated yet those jobs that have some women but are still vastly out numbered to men. I never thought about the hours spent at work being accountable for the gap but putting it into perspective it definitely makes sense. Men are expected to take care of the home financially even though women are in the work force too but women still have more of a responsibility of maintaining the home than the males so it's more reasonable for males to work more hours than women. When u look at the research for what it is and not what u want it to be the gap seems to make sense at least to me. Ryan Rumph
I am going to preface this response with the disclosure that this article was extremely frustrating to read, especially when written by a woman, mind you a white woman, which in itself generates another intersectionality. What the author fails to make any mention of the differentiation of workers outside of college-educated individuals. The author, in her rant on even when given the choice, men do not take more time off, is the social perceptions of men child-rearing. It may not be that women chose to take off, but in a let’s say heterosexual marriage, one of the parents needs to take off, who is more likely to be placed in a position of having to take off. There is immense pressure and social judgment, at least in the US, against women and their perception as mothers. Men working longer hours are a hard worker providing for his family, while a woman in the same position is seen as a neglectful mother. Women also have the burden of physiological burdens in rearing children, they have to take off for the physical birth, and if breast-feeding they have to either pump or feed their child. Many work places also ask if a woman is to pump, to do it in the bathroom. In all the authors rant against “proffiness” , the author fills their article with a lot of it.
To say that the fact (shown by study upon study) that women are “socialized” to think that they have to be the primary parent is false or irrelevant, just because the Nordic countries haven't been successful at closing the gender wage gap is absurd. As the previous comment states, there is a complete lack of intersectional perspective in this article, and it does not deal with the issue that our "choices" are not made in some contextual vacuum. The patriarchal structure and gender divison of social and professional labor are deeply rooted in society in every Western country (including the Nordic ones) and that is why it is important to talk about what restrictions it imposes on women and men in their gender roles, and not just brush it off as "irrelevant". Also, the author talks an awful lot about Sweden, but had she done her research, she would have been able to see that a lot of the problems concerning wage gaps there is due to an inherent gender bias in the "Swedish model" of union negotiations and wage development. Many Swedish feminists are also working to make the system of parental leave completely divided between the two parents, thereby trying to break the vicious circle of women being paid less because they are expected to have more absence, and then ending up staying at home more because they get paid less than their male partners. However, this is something that is very hard to accomplish in a capitalist economy and that is why it takes time. These are the sort of solutions that should be discussed, rather than simply saying "the gender gap won't go away" and giving up. - Malin Niklasson
The author seems to think that women being paid less is because they work less due to having children, but we need to delve even deeper than that. Why must women be the ones who take care of the children? In many marriages it's the other way around, where men are the ones spending more time with the children, and in other cases both are working the same amount. This is only in heterosexual relationships, of course, and doesn't account for homosexual relationships, households with any number of parents other than two, or people who live alone. There is so much this author completely fails to cover and account for - the author claims that many of the arguments regarding the gap are filled with poofiness, but fails to account for the poofiness in her own argument, which is incomplete, to put it lightly.
I believe that gender gap in the workplace will eventually close as our society develops further into a knowledge-based society. I also think this will take many years as gender roles are ingrained into many powerful peoples mindsets. Women hold much responsibility in the workplace as well as in the home so it’s only right that pay be equal. Even if they aren’t mothers tending families, pay should be equal for the same work.
I feel like the author is downplaying the effect of discrimination on the wage gap. The author argues that women are working less which is probably true. But I feel like there is a possibility that women are not being given the opportunity to work more hours because of the perception that they do not want to work hard. The author also failed to account for instances where men get promoted over women with comparable or better skills and qualifications. There are also instances where women and men work the same hours in the same job but are still paid less --this happens most often in business related jobs. This article seems to blame the wage differences on women and the jobs we pick and the hours we work over discrimination that is clearly evident. I admit that the author acknowledges it as a problem but I also think that it is overshadowed as a reason.
Where do I start? If a women does not put in the time to raise her kids then who would. We always say the children are our future, but why are we not helping the women who raise these kids. These children that are becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and helping America be where it is at today. It is not women who are the only ones being affected, but the families too. If a son grows up without seeing his father being active in his life, because the father must work in order to help pay the bills. We are messing up generations of families.
ReplyDeleteThe wage-gap between males and females has been a very serious topic ever since women emerged as members of the labor force. In families where both parents are present and contribute financially put themselves in positions where they can be more stable for their children and invest in their development. This occurrence in society greatly benefits the country in regards to the standard of education and reach of the future members of the labor force. This debate should begin with the mommy track, rather than with proofy statistics. - Maulford Smith
ReplyDeleteI always knew that there was a pay gap between the genders but I know I'm the beginning it was intentional. For one women weren't granted the same jobs men were so they weren't even given the opportunity to make the same amount of money. Now it's more likely to see women with similar jobs as men but I wasn't sure exactly what the pay gap is now and why we still even have a pay gap. I attributed it to the gap being within the jobs that women haven't quite dominated yet those jobs that have some women but are still vastly out numbered to men. I never thought about the hours spent at work being accountable for the gap but putting it into perspective it definitely makes sense. Men are expected to take care of the home financially even though women are in the work force too but women still have more of a responsibility of maintaining the home than the males so it's more reasonable for males to work more hours than women. When u look at the research for what it is and not what u want it to be the gap seems to make sense at least to me.
ReplyDeleteRyan Rumph
I am going to preface this response with the disclosure that this article was extremely frustrating to read, especially when written by a woman, mind you a white woman, which in itself generates another intersectionality. What the author fails to make any mention of the differentiation of workers outside of college-educated individuals. The author, in her rant on even when given the choice, men do not take more time off, is the social perceptions of men child-rearing. It may not be that women chose to take off, but in a let’s say heterosexual marriage, one of the parents needs to take off, who is more likely to be placed in a position of having to take off. There is immense pressure and social judgment, at least in the US, against women and their perception as mothers. Men working longer hours are a hard worker providing for his family, while a woman in the same position is seen as a neglectful mother. Women also have the burden of physiological burdens in rearing children, they have to take off for the physical birth, and if breast-feeding they have to either pump or feed their child. Many work places also ask if a woman is to pump, to do it in the bathroom. In all the authors rant against “proffiness” , the author fills their article with a lot of it.
ReplyDeleteTo say that the fact (shown by study upon study) that women are “socialized” to think that they have to be the primary parent is false or irrelevant, just because the Nordic countries haven't been successful at closing the gender wage gap is absurd. As the previous comment states, there is a complete lack of intersectional perspective in this article, and it does not deal with the issue that our "choices" are not made in some contextual vacuum. The patriarchal structure and gender divison of social and professional labor are deeply rooted in society in every Western country (including the Nordic ones) and that is why it is important to talk about what restrictions it imposes on women and men in their gender roles, and not just brush it off as "irrelevant". Also, the author talks an awful lot about Sweden, but had she done her research, she would have been able to see that a lot of the problems concerning wage gaps there is due to an inherent gender bias in the "Swedish model" of union negotiations and wage development. Many Swedish feminists are also working to make the system of parental leave completely divided between the two parents, thereby trying to break the vicious circle of women being paid less because they are expected to have more absence, and then ending up staying at home more because they get paid less than their male partners. However, this is something that is very hard to accomplish in a capitalist economy and that is why it takes time. These are the sort of solutions that should be discussed, rather than simply saying "the gender gap won't go away" and giving up. - Malin Niklasson
ReplyDeleteThe author seems to think that women being paid less is because they work less due to having children, but we need to delve even deeper than that. Why must women be the ones who take care of the children? In many marriages it's the other way around, where men are the ones spending more time with the children, and in other cases both are working the same amount. This is only in heterosexual relationships, of course, and doesn't account for homosexual relationships, households with any number of parents other than two, or people who live alone. There is so much this author completely fails to cover and account for - the author claims that many of the arguments regarding the gap are filled with poofiness, but fails to account for the poofiness in her own argument, which is incomplete, to put it lightly.
ReplyDelete- Brian Kang
I believe that gender gap in the workplace will eventually close as our society develops further into a knowledge-based society. I also think this will take many years as gender roles are ingrained into many powerful peoples mindsets. Women hold much responsibility in the workplace as well as in the home so it’s only right that pay be equal. Even if they aren’t mothers tending families, pay should be equal for the same work.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the author is downplaying the effect of discrimination on the wage gap. The author argues that women are working less which is probably true. But I feel like there is a possibility that women are not being given the opportunity to work more hours because of the perception that they do not want to work hard. The author also failed to account for instances where men get promoted over women with comparable or better skills and qualifications. There are also instances where women and men work the same hours in the same job but are still paid less --this happens most often in business related jobs. This article seems to blame the wage differences on women and the jobs we pick and the hours we work over discrimination that is clearly evident. I admit that the author acknowledges it as a problem but I also think that it is overshadowed as a reason.
ReplyDelete