Wednesday, April 22, 2009
This Is A Man's World
So once again, I can not wrap my thought around this idea of "discriminative pay". The articles in Grusky mostly reviewed the unequal pay between men and women; how a man and woman can have the same exact job, but get two different wages. Of course, as a woman, I do not agree with this standard but I also start to wonder how and why is this so. I start to think about history and the values America stands for. We (as Americans) have always considered the man to be the "breadwinner" and to "bring home the bacon", so with this concept in mind the man had to earn enough to support his family. Is this the reason for discriminative pay? Or is it because men have been the face and voice of America that they never considered the rights of women? America has successfully overcame many challenges with the courage, strength, and intellect from the men. So once again, what was the purpose of the woman? Or is it because we tend to think this is a man's world and women can take the back seat? Whatever the reason was and is, it's not fair. Women are just as courageous, strong, and intellectual as men and opportunities should be just as open. Although women are not always given proper recognition, they have made great strides in the American culture and continue to do so in everyday life. Men and women can do the same tasks with the same level of intensity. It does not matter the sex of the person being employed. What matters is that the job gets done and the pay is equal. In the words of James Brown, "this is a man's world, but it would be nothing without a woman to care".
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This is a good thought. Have you ever thought about why women have to make money and are still mainly responsible for the children? Women now are suppose to work and then come home and have to take care of the cooking and cleaning and children's needs. I agree that women are the same as men in many ways; however, women are generally responsible for the children and listening to the husband's needs as well.
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ReplyDeleteI have often thought of why women are expected to work a full time (or part time) job and take care of the children and most of, if not all chores. It makes me think of the cliché "Have your cake and eat it too". Either women want a taste of the career and motherhood or husbands enjoy their wives bringing in extra income and taking care of the children-leaving them to relax. I think this causes a tremendous burden on women, and I think men should wake up and realize that it is not fair or reminiscent of a partnership (what marriage should partly be).
ReplyDeleteIt is very unfair that women and men are not respected equally in the workplace. I can't not even imagine, being a working mother, knowing that you are not getting paid as much as your male counterparts, and then to come home and have to preform all of the domestic duties, and not have my husband pitch in. I think that as a part of making a family and household function properly, equal work should be expected from men and women. A man should wash the dishes and do the laundry. By that same token, a women should not be appalled if her husband asks for some help with a leaky faucet or yard work. I think it should be equal on both sides.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for the white males in charge to change the system. They grew up with the idea that men were supposed to support women and women were not capable of handling power or authority. This has been the way society was run for thousands of years, with men in nearly all the positions of authority. The strides we have made in the past decades have been pretty amazing considering how long it was so very unequal before.
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