Different Womens Issues

Today, there are a number of women's issues like abuse, discrimination, harassment lawsuits that have been reported almost every day. Some different issues are also available like a police officer who got discriminated at work after her pregnancy and a woman who was asked to perform oral sex by her manager. There was also the mention of an established lady doctor who found out that her salary was much less than her junior male colleagues.

The Graff of women's issues includes the account of one female worker at a chemical plant harassed by her male colleagues because they believed that the workplace was no place for a woman and that they were superior to her. The issues goes on listing a number of examples to show how little progress women have made and how much they had suffer in the workplace and with her intimate colleagues.

People may question the claims made by various surveys and reports but the wage gap between women and men has actually widened between 1990 and 2003. According to the data, women with only a high school diploma earn dramatically less than their male counterparts. The surveys also showed that on an average, women are paid 23% less than men are. In 1990, the difference in payment was pegged at 18% compared with the 23% at 2003, which shows that gender wage pay has only widened since then. Nevertheless, the starting salary for women with college degrees is still lower than men of the same qualification in most of the concerns.

A different survey also showed that when people were asked how much women should earn compared to men, respondents said that 80 cents to a man's dollar was enough wage for a woman. In fact, only a few respondents said that women's salaries should be equal to men's. It seems as if the gender wage gap is a given and no one would like to step forward and begin solving the issue. The difference in wage gap translates into bigger problems for women today.

In the end, women have lost more money than men have and thereby lose the opportunity to live contentedly and resorting to a lifestyle that just gets by. The extra dollars lost in wages could translate to retirement savings, well-deserved vacations, and buying other necessities for their children and family. Sometimes, these lost wages have meant bankruptcy for several women. How somebody could give up so much money knowingly is beyond any explanation. A long-standing reason that most of the people use to justify the disparity in wage is the myth that men work more hours in a day and are more ready to work on weekends than women do. In fact men also believe that the majority of women prefer to concentrate more on their personal lives than on their careers.

It does not stress important points like how women's wages and statuses are sidelined when women need to take a paid vacation, call in sick, or avail of a maternity leave. Still the surveys does a very good job in reminding women that they will not be able solve their issues without raising their collective voice and working towards sustainable and long-term solutions.

• John Palsson
• 03/12/2008, 2:59 AM
• 0 Comments