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Everytime an article like that is posted on Reddit or HN, comments point out that basically, women don't put up as much work as men, which explains their lower

Everytime an article like that is posted on Reddit or HN, comments point out that basically, women don't put up as much work as men, which explains their lower salaries. Case closed, not my problem, next thread. The article gives two factor to explain lower salaries among women. The first one is that they chose less lucrative academic fields. The second one happens when the woman is a mother. Despite the speculation in this thread that it's because the woman spends much time raising her child, the article isn't positive about that, and even suggests another possibility (employers assign different responsibilities and salaries to these women). Anyway, those are just intermediate explanations. The next step is understanding why women make such choices. While I understand that it's tempting to just imagine that it comes from "natural" differences (whatever that would mean) between men and women on which we have no control, another possibility is sexism in the way we raise boys and girls differently. Let's not close the case until we've ruled out this hypothesis, or solved it if it happens to be true.

usrusr 10y ago
> why women make such choices One key reason might simply be because they can. When a woman priorizes life over work, she sacrifices money, but the general perception of "success in life" will just shift from one well accepted metric to another. When a man does the same, he only has himself to cheer for him. Cultural expectations like this are much more difficult to change than plain monetary compensation. Edit: this post may sound a bit more "aww, poor men" than I like, but I really can't see anything wrong with inverting the question from "why do women" to "why don't men"
emsy 10y ago
The problem is the lack of nuance in this debate. It's either "natural differences" or as you said > another possibility is sexism in the way we raise boys and girls differently. Making this a binary choice is unnecessary, dangerous and in no way better than the "conservative" notion that women belong to the kitchen. Let's assume everything is solely based on social factors, adult women in this generation still won't have control over the way they were raised. It's unlikely that they will suddenly drop the behaviour they accquired over decades. And even if they could, why should they? If they're happy with their choices let them be. Instead we should work to value caregivers more, regardless of gender.
- antisthenes 10y ago
  Since when did raising boys and girls differently become sexism?
belorn 10y ago
Men and women make different choices in their work life because their social status in society is calculated differently. Its easier to see when looking at jobs rather than academic fields. Midwife is a general high status job for a woman. For a man its low status job, and barely tolerated by society. A man that work with garbage or sanitary is socially accepted so long he brings in enough money. A woman earning the same amount will still have their social status taking a major hit. It is generally considered as high status to work as a psychologist or veterinarian for a woman, regardless of pay. A male psychologist status is derived by how much he is earning, and is considered a failure otherwise. Unsafe and hazardously jobs like mining or working on a oil rig is profitable endeavorers for a man and brings high social status. For a woman its low status job, and barely tolerated by society. We could try to fix all this by force men and women to prioritize attributes which do not bring them high status in society, or we could try to fix society so people don't derive social status based on sexist attributes like wages and profession.

usrusr 10y ago

> why women make such choices One key reason might simply be because they can. When a woman priorizes life over work, she sacrifices money, but the general perception of "success in life" will just shift from one well accepted metric to another. When a man does the same, he only has himself to cheer for him. Cultural expectations like this are much more difficult to change than plain monetary compensation. Edit: this post may sound a bit more "aww, poor men" than I like, but I really can't see anything wrong with inverting the question from "why do women" to "why don't men"

emsy 10y ago

The problem is the lack of nuance in this debate. It's either "natural differences" or as you said > another possibility is sexism in the way we raise boys and girls differently. Making this a binary choice is unnecessary, dangerous and in no way better than the "conservative" notion that women belong to the kitchen. Let's assume everything is solely based on social factors, adult women in this generation still won't have control over the way they were raised. It's unlikely that they will suddenly drop the behaviour they accquired over decades. And even if they could, why should they? If they're happy with their choices let them be. Instead we should work to value caregivers more, regardless of gender.

antisthenes 10y ago
Since when did raising boys and girls differently become sexism?

belorn 10y ago

Men and women make different choices in their work life because their social status in society is calculated differently. Its easier to see when looking at jobs rather than academic fields. Midwife is a general high status job for a woman. For a man its low status job, and barely tolerated by society. A man that work with garbage or sanitary is socially accepted so long he brings in enough money. A woman earning the same amount will still have their social status taking a major hit. It is generally considered as high status to work as a psychologist or veterinarian for a woman, regardless of pay. A male psychologist status is derived by how much he is earning, and is considered a failure otherwise. Unsafe and hazardously jobs like mining or working on a oil rig is profitable endeavorers for a man and brings high social status. For a woman its low status job, and barely tolerated by society. We could try to fix all this by force men and women to prioritize attributes which do not bring them high status in society, or we could try to fix society so people don't derive social status based on sexist attributes like wages and profession.