Re: Female equality
You guys sound like you’re upset that it’s the women who have to have kids. Like CM said, it’s an opportunity cost. Is it fair? No, but take it up with mother nature, not men. You don’t see me whining about how women have all the power when it comes to sex.
You’re right in saying that women can’t have it all. They usually have to make a choice between their career or their kids. Again, not fair but it’s not a guy’s fault. I think Western culture is ridiculously flawed in trying to make the priorities of women the same as the priorities of men. I’ve read so many op-eds by former first and second wave feminists about how they felt deceived by the ideals that a few radical feminists pushed on the majority. I don’t understand why women would value a career over their children when women themselves describe the strong bond they feel with their kids. Does it leave you more vulnerable financially? Yes, but that’s where trust in your spouse comes into the equation, as well as the legal system, which is still set up on the basis that the woman stays home and takes care of the kids.
Also, that stat about women making less for every dollar a man makes, I think that stat is outdated. Does it account for position? For experience? Like you mentioned, women don’t usually hold the highest paid positions in a field, so it’s natural that the stats would show that men get paid more; the men in the upper pay brackets skew the results. People throw that stat around all the time without any information on where the number came from, and whether the study controlled for the factors I mentioned above.
Also, some people actually don’t negotiate their salaries very well and it could be that women are more timid by nature so they get paid less, that’s capitalism at it’s finest. Don’t blame an employer for paying someone less if they can get away with it. I’m not saying that women do get paid less (I want to see the source on that stat), but this could be an explanation for it.
I am a woman with a rather demanding career yet I agree with every word you have said. Women have actually done themselves a disservice by demanding to be treated ‘just like men’. If biologically we are so different, how can we expect the same treatment in other aspects of life? It’s best to just accept our differences for what they are and make peace with that. I don’t know why women want it all…men don’t have it all so why are we so eager to make ourselves miserable by aiming to become a Big Law partner, raise 3 perfectly disciplined kids, maintain an impeccable house and have an active social life.