Have you ever heard the axiom "If you say something enough times, it becomes true"? Well nowhere is that statement more appropriate than in regards to the wage gap. I know you've heard the statistic "Women make 77 cents for every man's dollar" at least once in your lifetime, and you best believe modern feminists and SJWs use this statement as proof that the "white male oppressive patriarchy" really exists. How could it not if women get paid less than men for the exact same work?
Well, here's the thing about that 77 cents per every dollar statistic: there's a LOT it doesn't tell you. First and foremost, this figure was calculated by dividing the average yearly earnings of women and men working full time. It did not take into account occupations, different job positions, education, or hours worked per week. In fact, the feminist organization American Association of University Women (AAUW) found that when you take all of these factors into account, the pay-gap shrinks to 93.4 cents. Since that number represents an average, that means it is a median between higher and lower numbers, which means that--gasp--there are women who make 1 dollar for every 1 dollar a man makes! The other 6.6 cents that women aren't making can be explained almost entirely from their own personal career choices.
Here are some of the important facts that are not being discussed in regards to women's earnings:
-Women generally work less hours than men
-Women generally take lower-paying positions than men
-Women generally major in lower-paying careers than men when studying at a university
-Women who start a family generally don't receive paid maternity leave (which, to be honest, is an issue of corporate greed, not sexism. If a man asked off for an extended period of time, you can bet that his company isn't going to pay him for not working)
These are all choices that women make, not the choices that the 'patriarchy' makes for them. Of course there are many people who will tell you that "internalized oppression" and "internalized misogyny" are what's keeping women from earning as much as men. Modern feminists and SJWs will insist that women's choices aren't truly free because they're so unaware of their own oppression. I think that this is an extremely unfair assertion to make, because I know for a fact that women are self-sufficient and determined enough to be equally successful (if not more) to any man. Assuming that they're not actually making free choices because society has conditioned them to be subservient to men is more toxic than the wage-gap myth itself. This ideology itself takes more power away from women then anything else, because it's essentially saying that any success (or lack thereof) a woman has in her life has already been predetermined by male oppression, not the result of her own volition, determination, mistakes, or personal setbacks that have absolutely nothing to do with men.
Now, in my "All Lives Matter" post I referenced the Equal Pay Act that was established in the 1960s, which is a federal law that forces companies to pay their workers equally, regardless of sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation. If a company is honestly paying you less than your male counterparts for the exact same job, then you have legal standing for a civil suit. However, also think about this: why would a company risk a lawsuit over something like the cost of labor? They care about that bottom line (not to mention their public image), and it would be a financial and social catastrophe if a woman called them out for breaking federal law.
Lastly, ask yourself this question: if a company could actually get away with paying women a lesser wage for the same amount of work that a man does, why wouldn't they just hire all women? Going back to that bottom line they care about, they'd save a fortune from the ease of the cost of labor (not to mention they'd increase efficiency) if this was possible. The truth is, is that it's not that simple. The wage gap isn't real, but the earnings gap certainly is. Even so, when you do consider the individual choices that women and men make while being educated for their career, seeking out work, and working full time, you'll find that the gap actually has nothing to do with discrimination. It has nothing to do with women 'not actually making their own free choices', and it has nothing to do with societal pressures or favoritism towards men. Women are perfectly capable of earning the same amount as men, just as long as they seek out equal education, the exact same occupation, the exact same job description, and work the exact same hours every week. That's how equality works, folks.
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