The fact that women have autonomy in the area of reproductive rights, also leaves us with the majority of the responsibility, and it seems that is why women are consistently paid less-because they are expected to be less reliable employees due to either the existing responsibilities of motherhood, or the implied ones. I can understand that there would be a consideration for the possibility that I may need extra available sick time, but it does not mean I do not deserve to be paid the equal wages and afforded equal benefits as my male counterparts. Equal doesn't mean the same. For example, it would be completely acceptable for a company to offer a single mother with small children a larger paid time off package in lieu of higher hourly wage, instead of exploiting her financial position and using it to pay her less, offering less benefit coverage knowing she needs her job to support her family, and will stay despite the inequity.
As a child, I can remember being told and shown through example that there are specifically different expectations of men and women in society. My chores were dishes, laundry and vacuuming. My brothers had to mow the lawn, take out the trash and clean the garage. My work was not less important or easier. I would receive the same punishment if it wasn't done. The double standard was very clear in my household. My immediate and daily role models were TV moms like June Clever, my grandmothers who were polar opposites, and my friends moms as well as my own, who left when I was 6 yrs old. I was never made to believe one gender was more capable than the other, just different. I learned to accept and embrace these differences in as much as I have experienced them in the realities of life.
I remember Amelia Erhardt, Mary Lou Retton, Sally K. Ride...and what made them stick out at the time was not only their accomplishments. It was the fact that they are women. There is irony in the fact that it is wonderful and necessary to honor them for their achievements so that young women could have strong female role models in their areas, but it was only news because they were women! So that being said, when you have 150 men and one woman doing a specific job equally well, how many girls really think they can follow in her footsteps? Many of us looked at those specific situations as strange and odd, although it may have been subconscious, it doesn't feel like a real possibility.
My grandmother used to say that I would be the first woman president. She didn't day I could be she said I was going to be. She said that to me and to others in front of me so many times from my infancy into my formative years. Sounds supportive and feministic, doesn't it? That was her intention, I realize...Now, I was born in 1974; you have to be 45 years old to run for presidential office. And if she thought it would be likely and amazing for ME to be the first....what does that say about her expectations of women in general?
you can actually search for Hillary Clinton's hairstyles....i wonder if there are images depicting all the different hairstyles of Ronad Regan...or any other male business owner or politician.
you can actually search for Hillary Clinton's hairstyles....i wonder if there are images depicting all the different hairstyles of Ronad Regan...or any other male business owner or politician.
Great question, Karla! The way men look does not seem to matter to us as much. Men's fashion doesn't really set them apart from one another, either. Do you think there is a connection there?
ReplyDeleteGreat post Karla, the issue of employment is a great topic. As a mother myself,one of the first questions I have always been asked was do I have children. I honestly feel having children makes me more reliable than many of my co-workers. It is way to important for me to do a great job and be dependable, so to be treated as equally as possible and have a sense of job security. A friend of mine won a law suit last year. she went on a leave when she had her youngest. When she returned they had replaced her. She then lost her health benifits for lack of hours. It took two years, but she held her ground. Her boss was the one terminated in the end. He had a long history of sexist,and racial slandering and was feared by most. I worked for him as well for four years prior to this event. Once I asked him for a well due raise and was told by him to go get a second job. I sucked it up and learned a few more aspects of my job. I even gave up hours spent with my children to accommodate his needs. Went back again for a raise, and his answer was "why should I pay you more when I can get a mexican to do your job for half price" Needless to say, I told him to his face that he was sexist and rude, racist and just a over all horible hu"man".
ReplyDeleteKarla it is terrible we have to come across people like this in life.