The following is a letter in response to an article my boyfriend sent me "debunking" the myth of a female-male wage gap and my research in turn. I included in the message an attachment to the Institute for Women's Policy Research fact sheet.
Hey,
After spending all this time reading about this I've realized that wage gap isn't so much the issue as it is "life choices" that are forced upon women. Women are still expected to give up their careers in order to raise their and their partner’s children. That's something that is so ridiculously 1950s, I can hardly believe it's still true. But it really is. It's something we're raised to believe, and it started when my female cousin, was given a baby doll to play with and my male cousin, was given a toy train.
My research shows that there is a wage gap, though it is smaller than what we've been told. Quite frankly, there are so many factors that have to considered I'm not sure any one place can give us the real picture, whether in support of both of our arguments or against.
You used an unreliable source for your claim that we’re not a patriarchal society so I’m going to use an unreliable source (just one) as well, in response to the Consad research:
You'll note that the author raises the issue that the study was comparing part-time women to full-time men which would create a disparity in the research. There are a few tiny things like that that I did not see in the research. Granted, I could have easily missed it.
This is what’s going on in the US today regarding the gender wage gap.
Note that they focus on men and women being paid differently for the same job. That’s the issue, when it’s within the same job, like how my sister's boyfriend made more than my sister for the same job.
Even though this article does not support my argument I'm going to give it to you and suggest you read that because it is more recent. It’s saying pretty much what yours was saying, anyway.
It's true that women are more likely to take off time from work in order to bear and raise their husband's children for him. That, alone, is cause for concern when it comes to gender equality. Women are the ones expected to give up their careers in order to raise children and, yes, it does have an impact on the wage gap. As you said yourself a while ago, you probably wouldn't take time off instead of your wife. Either she would take time off or you would get a nanny.
Take a look at this study by the Dept. of Labor.
Why am I hell bent on proving that there are HUGE gender inequalities? Because they are issues that need to be addressed and people are fighting it. Right now in America there is a war against women and women and their male supporters need to stand up and say, "Hey, not cool. Now let's make change!"
I'm giving you a some studies done by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and I hope you'll give it an honest read. See the first attachment. This is also considerably more recent than your study. and, yes, things do change quickly. Just look at the issues of gay marriage and abortion. Things are happening crazy quickly!
This is a good site that my media writing prof. It says there is a wage gap but it's not the $.77 to every man's dollar. But it's still there....
Love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment