Hurricane Katrina
Judecat:
If anyone has seen the movie or the Musical Hairspray -- the characters are a parody of the working class women in Baltimore who call everyone Hon. We even celebrate that parody every year in a "Hon fest." And have pagent for the Best "Hon" of the year. But basically, hon is the expected polite address to ones friends and customers.
I liked how in Germany prostitution was not only legal, but they had medical benefits. When I was preganant and crancky I told my 1st husband I'd rather give him 50 marks to go downtown than have him cheat on me with another WAC. I personally think they provide a useful service -- if they are doing it voluntarily.
I see the statistics about the in equality in pay all the time, but I have never actually seen it in practice. Statistics aside, have you ever made less, or been denied promotion to a higher paying position solely because of your gender.
I have never been turned down for a job because of gender, and I have never gotten a lower starting pay, or less frequent promotions because of my gender. The last 3 people who beat me out for promotion had BA degrees and all I have is an AA. 2 of them were men. The promotions was listed as BA degree or 4 years experience. I had 10 years experience -- both men had BA degrees and at least 10 years experience. One of the promotions I lost was to a woman who I had trained at the job, but she had gotten a masters degree in her spare time, so her masters trumped my experience. Heck this past summer I've been temping for the building company where my husband is contractor, as a laborer, and I get payed the same as any other laborer. Yeah the carpenters make more- but I'm not qualified to be a carpenter.
witch:
Again, as Veilchen says, how lucky you are Judecat that you have never experienced pay inequality. In New Zealand male dominated careers - eg the police force - are paid higher rates than female dominated professions such as nursing, this is inequitable from the beginning. I don't know the statistics off by heart, but I do know there are far more women who are earning under the average wage than there are men. There are far more men earning over the average wage than there are women. So job by job, there may be an equality of an hourly rate - for instance in the toilet cleaning profession, but overall 'mens' work' pays better than 'womens' work'.
There are also the intangibles to consider, when women take time out from careers to raise children, of course they slip back in the experience, confidence and promotion stakes. The old boys network is alive and well, various estimates are touted but no-one really knows how many of the top jobs are passed around amongst the boys, the only agreement is that 'who you know' can still have a big impact on what sorts of jobs are available to any individual.
As a woman working in the tertiary education industry I am almost making the average wage of nine years ago and I have an IT degree. So pay inequity is alive and well in this part of the world and I suspect it is not so different anywhere else.
Danni:
Something interesting I discovered yesterday (my first day of college). On the course I'm on (National Diploma for IT Practicioners - ICT Systems Support) of the 28 students, I was the only female. Even all the tutors are male. In this age of equality, I wonder why more women don't want to do computer networking? Is it just because I'm a geek?
I know that agency workers are normally paid a lot less than full time workers in jobs such as cleaning (even though they do exactly the same work) and women are more likely to be agency workers than men. Also, women are more likely to work part time (due to family commitments and such), therefore tend to be lower paid. I feel the agency workers should have comparible pay to the full time workers doing the same job, as that is causing inequality. In the higher paid jobs, you see less inequality, though you also see a lot more men working in them.
What witch said is true for the UK too. There are more women living on the minimum wage than men, and there are a lot more men earning the top wages.
J. M. Pescado:
Quote from: Danni on 2005 September 13, 06:02:43
Something interesting I discovered yesterday (my first day of college). On the course I'm on (National Diploma for IT Practicioners - ICT Systems Support) of the 28 students, I was the only female. Even all the tutors are male. In this age of equality, I wonder why more women don't want to do computer networking? Is it just because I'm a geek?
Probably because most normal women avoid having anything to do with computers. Relating to computers on that kind of level tends to be mechanistic and mathematical, and not at all social, which tends to run counter to the way female brains are supposedly wired.
So basically, you're a freak.
SciBirg:
Quote from: Danni on 2005 September 13, 06:02:43
Something interesting I discovered yesterday (my first day of college). On the course I'm on (National Diploma for IT Practicioners - ICT Systems Support) of the 28 students, I was the only female. Even all the tutors are male. In this age of equality, I wonder why more women don't want to do computer networking? Is it just because I'm a geek?
Well, if you're a geek then I am too. I got my BA in computer science and then promptly got stuck doing helpdesk because everyone else have Master's degrees. :P
At least I get to do some Unix support too, not just regular WinXP. We are about 50% women here though, but I am the only one so far on Unix.
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