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Gender Wage Gap Analysis

Decent Essays

The stereotypes that make women the primary caretakers of the children actually has a great effect on whether or not they get a raise, “social stereotypes that frame women as caretakers first, and employees second is possibly the biggest factor contributing to the gender wage gap” (O’Neill). The gender wage gap is still something that affects women greatly. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was supposed to abolish wage discrimination based on sex, however in 2013 female full-time workers made only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. Women and men are both working in the same jobs and are both working as hard as the other so why is there still wage discrimination present? In “Legalizing Gender Inequality: Courts Markets and Unequal Pay for Women …show more content…

If this is so then who is responsible for creating the wage gap? “The conservative answer to this problem [wage discrimination] tends to be, 'Oh, women don't want to work as hard, because they usually want more time off to take care of their kids or parents.' So, to them, its women's own fault” (Ashley Portero). There are some women who would take the time off to care for their children but there are other women who can handle both without asking for time off. This can go back to Butler and how she explained that not all women should be grouped together. “In spite of its narrowing, the gender pay gap persists. Why is this? In our survey, women were more likely to say they had taken career interruptions to care for their family.” Women have to take time off to care for their family because they are expected to do so. The women who are married could have continued t work while their husbands took the time to care for the family but this is not “socially correct.” Women are represented as being the primary caretakers of the family and they are represented as nurturing and emotional. These representations are what create the stereotypes and these representations are the reasons why women don’t have the same opportunities that men do when they are in the labor force. Representation is key in the sense that women are being made the subject of these representations. The representations did not create women and in turn women are not all the same. Another thing that can relate here is how Butler says that there is heteronormativity present in gender. Gender and sex are both equally socially constructed. It is the beliefs and cultures that create the subject of “woman” not the woman that creates these beliefs and cultures. The stereotypes create these discriminations against women in the workplace and at home due to the fact that some men still to this day believe women belong at home

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