Tori Amos once sang, "You can keep the house … and the bank accounts, 'cause boy, I bring home the bacon."
Two days ago marked Equal Pay Day, a day that marks how much further into the next year a woman must work in order for her income to match that of a man's earned in the previous year. The passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009 marked progress toward a more even playing field, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, if passed, will continue the fight against gender discrimination. However, the fact remains that women's work is still not as valued as men's, which serves as a prime example dispelling the illusion of equality.
The sex segregation within the workplace nevertheless continues to support gender inequality. Gender roles, expectations and socialization work together in creating the sex segregation found in the labor force. In institutions from family to school, the passed−down ideologies of gender shape our futures in determining suitable jobs and careers. We believe that little Susie shouldn't expect to fight fires any more than rowdy Joey should expect to nurse the ill. That's why we study biology, right — to determine our appropriate future jobs while subscribing to a limited biological perspective of identity? These paradigms of gender also transfer into the workplace, affecting the hiring process, promotions, salary increases and so on, which all together then further contribute to the unequal distribution of genders among different occupations.
It is undeniable then that the number of men overwhelms that of women in higher−paying jobs and positions. The "glass ceiling" and the "sticky floor" tend to keep women in their place: the bottom of the hierarchy. Gender stereotypes and opportunities for advancement, among other factors, often stop women's advancement and perpetuate the problematic sex segregation. For example, a competitive woman may be perceived as too aggressive and macho; she has thus stepped out of her gender sphere and will suffer the consequences and lose the promotion to perhaps a less−qualified candidate. Therefore, the popular discourse referring to the "He−cession" because of its myopic perspective hardly takes into account the wage gap and the lower concentration of women in laid−off executive positions. I would attribute the over−reporting and resultant shock of the aforementioned phenomenon to the hyper−visibility of men's troubles and the dismissal of women's, because, as you know, it's the same old story over and over again — which is exactly why we need to write a new narrative: one of equality.
A very telling study in 2008 found that females who transitioned to men earned 1.5 percent more, while men who transitioned to women earned 32 percent less. Perhaps, the stigma of a sex change explains the relatively low increase in the FTMs' (female−turned−male) wages, while it functioned alongside gender inequality in drastically decreasing the MTFs' (male−turned−female) wages.
Going a little further back in history, the changes concerning clerical work in the 20th century reveals gender inequality. The gender composition of an occupation, another aspect of sex segregation affecting pay, determines its overall worth. While men dominated the field of secretarial work, they were relatively well paid. But as more women began taking on clerical duties, the pay decreased significantly. The association of the occupation with a certain gender influences its level of prestige. Despite the fact that secretaries support a foundation or company, their work was deemed undemanding and less valuable as soon as more women came into play. Secretaries now earn less than earlier in the previous century because of sex segregation.
Considering that the wage gap has yet to close even in 2010, gender inequality is neither a problem that has been solved for the most part nor one that is going away. We can't do wrong in supporting the freedom of gender expression and identity and equal opportunities and rights. Let's tell women their true worth.
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Elisha Sum is a junior majoring in English and French. He can be reached at Elisha.Sum@tufts.edu.
