The Gender Inequality problem is a long and ongoing problem thats been affecting society, arguably, from its very foundations. There is a sense of an engrained culture of gender inequality, with females and males both being subjected to it. Gender Inequality itself also greatly affects economic growth, not just on a personal, day to day levels, but on a whole society wide scale. This way of thinking only deepens the divide between an equal assessment of males and females, and creates a culture that chastises anything for being “too” feminine. One of the most prevalent problems is the proliferation of the gender pay gap.
The gender pay gap is a very real and serious issue. According to various NY Times articles, blog posts, and even governmental sources, women, on average, receive 77 cents of every dollar that men receive. Despite women being employed for the same job, doing as much or even greater work then their male counterparts, women are consistently paid less. And this inequality goes beyond the private sector, as female members of Congress, the literal law makers of our country, are also consistently paid less. This is just an unfair burden upon women. In this era of capitalism, a worker’s value in the corporate scheme is to market their productivity, what does it say to women that their productivity, no matter the amount of success they garner, is inherently less then men? What’s worse, is that companies and higher ups, while acknowledging the problem, do nothing about it.
In the article, “Vigilant Eye on Gender Pay Gap, writer Robert Neubecker explains that very little is being done to close the gap, unless in the private field. He contends that only about 46% of instituted agencies that are dedicated to closing the pay gap actively work to shut it down. In fact, Neubecker explains, the want to fight against the pay gap is working with a response, not an active participation. “They are doing it proactively, but it is a proactive response to risk,’ said Brian Levine of Mercer’s work force strategy and analytics group, who said more companies had become interested in the reporting over the last five years.” Neubecker basically explains that the work coming from the private sector against the pay gap is out of fear of lawsuits. Anything created in response to fear does not tend to carry over well.
Another issue in the economic climate is the absence of paid maternity leave. it is almost hypocritical to expect a woman to be as productive as possible, pay her less than a male counterpart, and then not give her the benefits of paid maternity leave when she becomes a mother. Economic principle that does not offer some sort of long term pay and benefits for a mother simply does not understand the social implications and practices of humans. It glosses over human experiences and livelihood, just to keep productivity up. They literally treat a employees as machines, and any complications in finishing their tasks, be it a very real, involved, and very human experience, is not valued or understood, but punished. According to the article “In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe,” the writer even suggests that only maternity leave furthers a divide between men and women: “When only the birth parent can take paid leave, you put people in a situation where they have to follow traditional gender roles, which doesn’t always make sense,” Dr. Matos said. “If the male partner has a more flexible job it doesn’t matter, because she is the one who gets the leave. A lot of people are beginning to talk about how these issues need to be looked at as overall family issues, and the decisions need to be made in the context of all of the people involved.”
These are very serious issues that take place in the economic world, and this unfair practice of looking down on another gender must be resolved.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/us-trails-much-of-the-world-in-providing-paid-family-leave.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/business/keeping-a-vigilant-eye-on-pay-equity-for-women.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/21/rising-wealth-inequality-should-we-care/the-gender-complication-in-wealth-distribution
I completely agree with you that gender inequality is the big picture problem which contributes to the smaller problems that happen at the workplace. These small problems build up on a personal level in every individual to add up to be an economic problem. I also wrote about the gender wage gap since I do see it as an important aspect of economic growth where women are paid less than men for same amount of work. I do like the fact that you bring up that no matter what the occupation is women are generally paid less. It’s as if even if women rose higher in rank, they will still be paid less solely for a reason they cannot control. Although I did not discuss about maternity leave to be a problem, I only see it as a problem when it causes women to lose their job. Job security is so important to women during that stage of their lives since they have increased their burden with a new life.
I really liked your take on the gender wage gap and traditional gender roles. In particular, I like that you looked not only at the effect on women, but on men as well. For example, while the gender pay gap is a serious obstacle for women in the workplace, childcare policies present a gender gap from both sides. Not only do women not get proper compensation for having a child, but in the United States, men typically get none at all. While this seems like an obvious unfairness on both ends, I had not previously considered how this problem furthers traditional societal “gender roles”. As we spoke about in class, things such as barbies and tutus only being for girls, assigns clear gender roles at a very young age. This makes it very difficult to change these underlying sexist norms, because they are so deeply rooted in every aspect of our culture. What I had not considered it that the issues of maternity/paternity leave only deepens the issue. By only potentially offering leave for mothers, how are women supposed to step outside of the traditional role of the “caretaker” and be taken more seriously in their careers? These will not be easy problems to tackle but I am excited to see how you approach your solution.
I like that you brought up maternity leave because that’s a really microscopic aspect to the problem and is a part of the problem that can easily be addressed. Recognizing the importance of human experience and life, many organizations that hire mothers should be expected to pay special attention to these employees. I glossed over the specific problem of maternity leave but I regarded the career interruptions on mothers due to caring for a child to be among the main factors for the wage gap between men and women in contemporary society.
I think you pose a great argument regarding the current problems with gender inequality. The pay gap is already an indication that we are not equal in an economic standpoint and that will negatively affect the way our society functions in conjunction to commerce. It is important for women and men to have the same pay and the same opportunities so there is no perception of dominance between the sexes. If this problem is addressed and solved, then the value of the workers are equal and workers will feel appreciated in the workforce. I liked how you mentioned paid maternity leave since that is one of the biggest issues that women face when being a potential candidate for employment. To cut costs, companies will have a biased judgement when it comes to factors such as maternity leave and it is important to bring the problem up so it is addressed properly to accomodate all necessities of a person’s life. The biology of women is not something that should affect their status as a productive member of society.