Sunday, January 15, 2012

Women's economic inequlity, a feminist issue? Blog Point 5 Hyper Link

    According to Google, the definition of feminism is, “ The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic inequality to men.” Another definition was coined by Su, at the 1996 anthology DIY Feminism Festival.  She said, “[Feminists are] just women who don’t want to be treated like shit.” After having read different stories, and looking at what determines class based on information from People Like Us and The Center for Working Class Studies(CWCS), I have determined that economic inequality is a feminist issue. It is a feminist issue based upon three things which include statistics, social class, stereotypes, and dependency.

    To start off, statistically speaking women are more likely to be have a lower income. According to the 2012 statistical abstract under the Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth section from U.S. Census Bureau women are more likely to make less money than men whether a women had an education or not.  On Table 702. Money Income of people, of all the males ( 117,728) their median income is $32,184, whereas of all the females(124,440) their median income is $20,957. To make matters worse, even when women have attained a higher level of education there is still a disproportion of wealth between men and women. The median income annual of men with a bachelor’s degrees or higher is $92,815, whereas the median income of women with a bachelors degree or higher is $62,198. That is a difference of more than $30,000, despite women having equivalent education. This economic difference is important to note because income is an important determinant of class because it contributes to where you live, your lifestyle, the schools your children attend, and even the food you eat.

    Secondly, as I already mentioned before, class is determined by a number of different factors. According CWCS, determining your class status is hard because there is often a large bracket for what a middle class income looks like. For instance people who make between $28,000 and $90,000 may consider themselves middle class despite the large difference in lifestyles. So to get a better predictor of class you have to look at the type of job you have, the people you work with, your social or economic power, your education, as well as race, gender, and culture according to CWCS. In single parent homes women tend to make less than men and as a result will have less social power, less education, work with others who are similar to themselves, and will have jobs that are considered a ‘women’s job’(cleaning toilets at a Burger King). This is important to remember because the discrepancy of income has a far reaching effects on the inequality of treatment to women, as a whole.



    Finally, after I read some of the stories in People Like Us I came to realize that there are more derogatory terms for women in low income situations. Some of the stories that stood out the most, were about women working and trying to make a living, without government assistance. As a result they had less income and had to manage living with three or more kids to feed. Despite the economic difficulties they face, they are often seen as ‘trashy’ by the people around them and their own kids. When the man who came from the rich family left his family in pursuit of a lower income lifestyle, he didn't face an income problem but a problem associated to honor. Which in itself is associated to stereotypes because if a women is working hard she is seen as ‘trashy’, but if a man is working hard it is seen as  ‘honest work’. These differences perpetuate male dominance and women inequality, by also encouraging women that women don’t have to suffer and getting married as a way out, shows how society expects women to depend on men.

    I think I’ve said enough, but to recap women are economically at a disadvantage, which helps determine their social status, and as a result, women are treated unequally because of the stereotypes used to get women to conform to male dominance and dependency. As you can see, this is absolutely a feminist issue because everything I mentioned tied to the definition I mentioned which a women’s political, social, and economic inequality to men. With the differences between men and women I have already mentioned, it breeds unequal rights in different sectors of our culture for women.

Comments: I think it's a real shame that there is such a large difference in salaries/income between men and women. Most of the time being that women have the same education as their male counterparts, yet they still get paid less. To make matters worse everyone as young children are told that they can achieve anything if they put their mind to it, instead they should say, " If your a man, white, of an upper middle class backgrounds, with families that have legacies at Harvard, then yes, you become president." And yes I know there is a African American as president, and yes there are billionaire African American Females, But honestly how many of them do you know?

13 comments:

  1. I always knew that women make less than men but sheesh 30,000?! That's a lot!! Its crazy bc it makes me think WAIT IM A GIRL!! So to read that I'm gonna have a bachelors in something and a male with the same eduction as me will make more than me because he's a male and if he's white that might even go into his salary?! Wish it wasn't like that smh

    I really liked your post though. Good using the definition of feminism and using all the stats!

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    1. I keep reading all your comments and girl, you are shaking your head a whole lot!!!

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  2. I was also shocked to see the 30,000 dollar difference. I really liked your use of statistics in this post. Most of us didn't do that, and they really show you how important this issue is. It's not just a tiny difference in salaries, it's a whole different way of living.

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  3. I, like Jean, appreciate the amount of depth you went into in this post by actually giving statistics on the income differential between men and women. I don't think it's anyone making a concerted effort to keep women dependent on men, but the extent of the salary differences sure does enforce women's financial dependence on men.

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  4. I like the comparison of men working hard being seen as honest workers, but women who have to work hard for their money are seen as trashy. Great point!

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  5. Really good post. I am shocked by your second paragraph about how women are still not payed the same as men. In 2012 we would think that the amount of money someone gets paid on a job would be the same. If they are both putting their all into a job why are they being paid differently. The difference between how much each gets paid is also such a wide margin. It is crazy that men get paid almost 30,000 dollars more if they have a bachelors degree.

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  6. Wow I couldn’t believe that fact about men earning around $30,000 more than women even with the same education. I knew there was a difference, but I thought it was only a few thousand, not that much. That is completely unfair to women and really needs to change.

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  7. 30, 00 dollar difference? thats insane! I never knew there was such a difference. This kind of reminded me of Johnson, how know one can do anything to fix it unless the problems are brought to the surface and talked about. Great job!!! :)

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  8. Great job supporting your discussion! I'm very surprised by the level of variation between the average salaries of women and men. It's a gap that I would have imagined had at the very least would have tightened substantially by now. I guess not. I do think this generation will be the one to bring major change to this issue.

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  9. Really like how you said that men are seen to be good workers for working hard and how women are to be seen as trashy when they go after something they want. Nice Post!

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  10. I liked the links you had in your post, it brings you right to the point. I, like Fallon, did not know about the 30 grand differences between men and women. That's pretty crazy.

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  11. Looking at these comments I take it everyone was just as shocked as I was when I read about the salary difference between women and men with the same education. It's one thing to hear about it, but to see the numbers its crazy! For a nation who has supposedly "come so far" It really has a long way to go for equality. Shocking.. Great Post Jose! Tons of Facts I loved it.

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  12. I believe salaries should be equal as well. In one of my blog posts I put up a video about a show I use to watch on this issue!

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