In Comp I, my project two paper was about an issue on what we felt passionate about, and seeing other individuals worldviews and values. We also had to think outside of the box, and see why people think the way they think.
Luis Alfaro
Rosillo
ENGL-1113-095
15 November 2021
Today in society, people around the world are getting paid regardless of what jobs they have whether it’s the medical field, the education field, the marketing field, etc. For example, Walmart, Target, McDonald’s corporation, Proctor and Gamble inc., insurance companies, banks, professional offices, examples, law firms, investment businesses etc. are some of the companies to name a few. In articles from Washington Post, “Men say they work more than women. Here’s the truth”, “In 25 years, the Pay Gap has shrunk by just 8 cents” by the New York Times, and “The gender wage is a myth” by the Suffolk Journal demonstrate the perspective, and interviews of them asking politics, businesses, etc. explain why they think the gender pay gap should not still remain.
In the article, “Men say they work more than women. Here’s the truth” by the Washington Post explain their perspective of why males work harder than women. For example, in the article, an interviewer asks Charlotte Hays, a write for the Independent Women’s Forum whether if it’s a cause of gender, or by claims about a gender pay gap. The article says:
“But nothing about the gender wage gap is simple, as much as experts on both sides of the ideological aisle would like it to be. Economists say the controversial figure isn’t a product of pure joy decision or discrimination, it’s likely a blend of both, plus a dose of societal conditioning and pressure” (Hays). Hays demonstrates from this quote that yes being a woman is a struggle in the labor force, males understand being more dominating. In addition, from the same article, uses some examples of potential overview of why men get paid more than women, or vice versa. The article explains:
“Blau and Kahn chalk this up to potential discrimination, conscious or not. Perhaps an employer is inclined to pick a man over an equally qualified woman for a promotion, assuming he’d work harder. Perhaps a woman loses out on a prestigious role because a manager fears she may soon get pregnant. Perhaps she’s perceived as too severe when a male applicant appears confident” (Hays). Reasons demonstrating shows examples from this quote shows the demonstration of real-life scenarios to see what would happen if someone specifically a woman would bring to the table.
In the article, “The gender wage gap is a myth” by the Suffolk Journal sees it as decisions, instead of gender. For example, in the article, it shows that positions, and statistics in work forces plays a huge part of gender pay gap. The article says:
“Using the statistic that women make 78 cents on the dollar as evidence of rampant discrimination has been debunked over and over again. This statistic doesn’t take into account a lot of choices that women and men make – education, years of experience and hours worked – that influence earning” (Cason). Cason thinks this to show that earnings is not affected by their gender, instead its education. To also include, having the kind of influence of experience and hours says a lot in the article that they care more of what career choices they make at the end of the day. To add on, both genders getting the same job will fall for different pay and leads to labor being not fair. The article quotes:
“The common saying would still be misleading. It gives the impression that a man and a woman standing next to each other doing the same job, for the same number of hours, get paid different salaries. That’s not the case. “Full time” officially means 35 hours, but according to the Bureau of Labor Department, “men worked longer than women – 8.4 hours compared with 7.8 hours. Men work more hours than women” (Cason). Cason shows that even though the statistics of them saying that men and women would work the same job, they would still get paid different of the hour’s men put in than women.
From the same article, “The gender wage gap is a myth” by the Suffolk Journal demonstrates that it’s a small factor in the whole wage difference, and gender plays a small factor. For example, from the article, it asserts that it does not agree with gender, it’s more of the career choice that they make. The article demonstrates:
“If a woman works as a cashier, do they anticipate getting the same compensation as their male manager? If a woman only works 30 hours, does she expect to get the same pay as the man who works 40? When studying the wage gap, we should look at people’s positions, professions, and knowledge. Pay is based on knowledge, background, duties and negotiation. We have to take into account what jobs do women typically go for and what jobs men go for” (Suffolk Journal). Gender is not mentioned at all; however, it is more of other ideas, other than the idea of differences of gender. Cason says all this to demonstrate that no matter what being a woman is not easy at all, however being a cisgender is an everyday struggle.
From the same article, “The gender wage gap is a myth” explains the ending of them explaining what gender does not matter at all. For example, in the article they explain and question the reader for reading this article that it’s common sense. Cason writes:
“If you still find yourself thinking, ‘Why is there a wage gap at all?’ It’s impossible to know for sure. There are so many people working for many companies who lead so many different lives. With so many variables, it will be impossible to know for sure. However, the gender wage gap isn’t sexist – it’s common sense” (Cason). Cason analyzes that gender does not matter when getting paid, instead it’s common sense that we live in a society where what’s fair is fair.
The New York Times article, “In 25 years, the pay gap has shrunk by just 8 cents” and “The gender wage gap is a myth” explains that gender gap still exists, but there is something that can be done. For example, in the article by Donner and Goldberg explains what Equal Pay Day is, and how it became a thing. The authors demonstrate:
“It’s a symbolic day that illustrates how far into the current year American women would need to work to earn what their male counterparts earned last year. Put another way, because there is a disparity in what women and men are paid, women would need to work around 448 days to earn what men earn in just 365 days. Race plays a part, too: For Black and Hispanic women, the numbers are worse. For Asian women, the number skew a bit better” (New York Times). It shows the better understanding, and history of what it is, and what can be done. To add on, in the same article, they question how the wage is pay gap number calculated today. The article explains:
“The pay gap refers to the ratio of female to male median annual earnings for full-time workers. Think of it as a fraction: the numerator is the difference between male and female median earnings, and the denominator is male median earnings. The actual number might look different depending on the source it’s coming from, because some sources factor in characteristics like age, family size, education level and industry. We treat this issue as if you could summarize it in one number,” said Claudia Goldin, an economics professor at Harvard University. ‘It’s the headline,’ not really the full picture” (New York Times). The shows the meaning of what the statistics, and the meanings of what the authors are trying to convey which is the earnings of what males and females make.
The articles that were presented showed the gender pay gap of the disagreement of it, the overview of why it exists and what can be done, and the statistics of the results of it happening today. In articles by Washington Post, “Men say they work more than women. Here’s the truth”, Suffolk Journal “The gender wage gap is a myth” and The New York Times “In 25 years, the pay gap has shrunk by just 8 cents” explains the gender gap doesn’t exist, the overviews, and gender plays a small role. It shows that because it shows that no matter the circumstances, or tribulations today, it should not happen at all. The facts from these articles show the true meaning of what the gender gap pay is, and how it can be resolved. From the understandings of these articles, society understands the ways of how to handle gender pay gap worldwide and seeing perspectives on a day-to-day basis. Something that I could take away from learning, and understanding from these articles would be that yes, the gender pay gap exists, but seeing that makes me see that This issue does not just affect women; it also impacts families, businesses, nonprofits, communities, schools, universities and even states, regions, and nations. In other words, the gender pay gap affects everyone.