To say, for example, that a female graduate engineer earns as much as male graduate engineer misses the point. The research is looking at women as a demographic, versus men as a demographic, and shows the the disparity in average full time wages between these 2 demographics is increasing.
Why do you think this is? It it because of benign reasons? Is it a social problem? How will the gender gap in pay affect us in the longer term given the constant social changes that we've been experiencing?
Ahhh... a breath of fresh air. Someone who is willing to continue a logical discussion without resorting to personal attacks and playing the victim card (even though PG seems to have agreed that she gets paid the same as men at her work?).
So, how would one go about addressing this 'gender wide' pay gap given the consensus seems to be that it exists because:
- Men work harder/dirtier/more dangerous jobs than women
- Men work longer hours than women on average (7.75 hours vs 8.14 hours)
- Women take more time away from their careers to have a family
- and so on that the masculine inside them drives them to do (see above)
If you still want to have equal rights between men and women then the only way I can see this reducing is if women in force choose to work longer, more dangerous jobs, not have a family etc (i.e. do the opposite of the above). Much like lesbian women and many high paid women I'm sure have done.
The only other way to reduce the gap without doing these things would be to apply benefits to women and not men, which would be special treatment, not equality.
I can't think of any other way, although would love to hear others ideas (i.e. our are maternal/parental leave systems good enough?)
The point is there is no victim here, no oppression, no big boardroom table of old white guys sitting around scheming how to pay women less - the choice and opportunity is there for those who want to make it.
Given that biologically only women can have kids (and are probably more nurturing/motherly than men are when it comes to raising those kids - the feminine inside them gives them this advantage, and no doubt a higher EQ), maybe that's why men and women need to form a team and work together, each providing financial and emotional support to each other (and contribute as best they can to the relationship in a wide variety of other ways), regardless of whichever sex they are or which one has more masculine energy or more feminine energy (in the case of gay couples).