To expand on exploring this, the blog Sociological Images, posted the following chart:
What strikes me as interesting about this chart is that some of the traditionally male-dominated fields, like construction, agriculture, mining, are some of the closest to equal in terms of pay, with construction at over 90 cents to every male dollar.
What strikes me as interesting about this chart is that some of the traditionally male-dominated fields, like construction, agriculture, mining, are some of the closest to equal in terms of pay, with construction at over 90 cents to every male dollar. While fields that tend to have more women, like education and health services, retail, and administration, fair pretty poorly, between 75 and 80 cents for women to one dollar for men.
I'm not sure as to the cause, but I could hypothesize that fields that have attracted women for a number of years, now, feel no need to pay them equal wages - they already have women who will gladly accept their lesser earnings. In contrast, in order to attract female employees, some male-dominated fields may have increased earnings.
Unfortunately, we still live in a world where women are 2nd-class citizens. A woman married to a man, like me, may experience this more acutely. Wherever we go, sales people talk to my husband as if I didn't exist. Who cares if I like them, in their view, the man is who counts. Bastards!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, because I notice that for certain sales (cars, electronics, certain appliances), but it seems to be less so for others. There seem to be certain things that it is assumed men will make the decision regarding purchasing, and other things it is okay for women to purchase. I hadn't thought about that much - thanks for bringing up the point! :)
ReplyDelete