Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Horse is Now Dead

Not to beat a dead horse on women's rights but...regarding equal pay for equal work:

"...Beth Cubriel, executive director of the Texas Republican Party weighed in further on the issue. “Men are better negotiators, and I would encourage women, instead of pursuing the courts for action, to become better negotiators,” I agree with Ms. Cubriel that women need to be better negotiators as our culture does not make it easy for a woman to take a more aggressive stance at the table, but that is NOT the reason for the pay disparity in the early years of a woman's career.  I think women are excellent negotiators, but they do it far more well for others than for themselves.

"You don't deserve equal pay on the merits, you just need to find out you're being discriminated against, then argue your way into equal pay. That is totally a sustainable solution that in no way privileges a certain class of women who can negotiate their wages or even find out they're being discriminated against and is way more efficient and effective than just paying workers the same amount for the same job regardless of their sex!"  I think this was the counter argument.

A most recent study proved that across ALL professions except for humanities, women are 20% behind in pay after their FIRST year of employment right after getting their college degree.  This is before they get married, have babies, and even have time to negotiate for a raise which are the various reasons given for not paying women as much.  This gap increases from 80 cents on the dollar to 70 cents on the dollar in some professions as the years go by even after controlling for variables such as part time work, lack of experience, etc..  Women are left struggling to pay their college loans with less income and permanently behind the economic spectrum and being blamed for not really negotiating well?

This reminds me of my friend who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy decades ago.  He felt that women did not belong in the Navy because the minute they show up aboard ship they affect morale and command because they flirt.  Really?  Female engineers graduating from the Academy have a flirting problem?  Well, men harass sexually and even rape, which I do feel affects morale and command structure, so that makes it even in my book.  (Not really, just trying to be snide.)  

This war is ongoing and women (and their men) are going to have to stand up and demand fair treatment, whether it is a promotion or an honest criticism of their work, but it has to be fair and transparent.   Thank goodness I am married to a fair and hard working man that agrees with me and sees this disparity and wants his daughter to get a fair chance in her career.



13 comments:

  1. I cringed when I first heard about this. I can't imagine why any woman would vote Republican.

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  2. It is a significant problem. There is also the fact that certain jobs are just not valued in any proportion to how they actually benefit others and society in general. Women in those jobs are hit with a double whammy.

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  3. In this state, as a public school teacher, we are all paid the same on any level of the salary schedule. The level depends on education and years of experience. Men ans women are equal. Of course, since teaching was once primarily a women's profession, no one gets paid enough.

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  4. As a single, head-of-household with two children to support, there was no way I could make demands for equal pay. It was simply amazing that I reached the levels I did during ten years with an equal opportunity employer before merger madness took over in the banking industry and suddenly the glass ceiling came down to meet me. No boat rocking while I had two children in college for fear of losing the level I had attained. They knew they had me by the ovaries.

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  5. I always hated those arguments. Being an artist, I always had menial day jobs to maintain my two kids and college and art and....

    I remember one job in the 70's where I got 5 bucks an hour and felt rich,. silly me.

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  6. It's just long since time for this crud to end.

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  7. Hard hitting and right on.

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  8. My career was in education, which as far as I could see is totally gender neutral, at least at the secondary level.

    Hopefully, the rest will sort itself out. We have daughters and granddaughters after all.

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  10. I am playing catch-up...

    I have yet to read a good argument against equal pay for men and women

    Loved the story of your rebellion on the last day of Jr. High. I am quietly rebellious, too. Maybe we should join hands and get noisy?

    As for being considered invisible - the only way to avoid it is to be visible. Of course, that may have unfortunate consequences. I agree - choosing one's battles is far more important. It may keep you safe.

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  11. Such an Orwellian kind of argument, the first two paragraphs.

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  12. Same things happen in the UK - I remember 50 years ago that we were discriminated against and there was no sense of shame on the part of the establishment. At least a legitimate claim and argument can win the day now. It does take persistence though.

    Blessings from Dalamory
    www.freda.org.uk

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  13. So true
    Don't get me started on workplace politics. I have a long list, including current job.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.