A recent piece of information was brought up to me concerning the pay gap between men and women in a local workplace. My roommate currently works at a research lab close to campus and experiences a lower pay than her male coworker. Although this is just a personal example for me, unfortunately the pay gap exists in many more workplaces than just this lab. Overall, it is a bigger problem than we realize across the United States.
Although some people say the pay gap is due to women choosing to work lower-paying/skilled jobs or who choose lower-paying specializations, this does not explain the fact of women who are getting paid less for the same occupations that men hold. In a recent study by Forbes, it states, “When comparing the median salary between men and women, a 2021 report from Pay scale reports that women earn 82 cents for every dollar men make. This 18% difference is the raw gender pay gap.” Furthermore, when looking at professions that are mainly dominated by women, it can be seen that wages in these jobs are decreasing, even though they were once higher paying jobs when males held
these positions.
these positions.
A possible solution for this systemic injustice would be to work with each other to raise more awareness to this issue. While this may not seem as though a big problem, the problem continues to occur and does not appear to be getting better. The more we advocate for this issue and show support for our friends and family, the workplaces will notice how affected we are by the problem and start to fix the pay gap between men and women in these workplaces.
This example of a systemic injustice can be related to the idea of “One” and “Other” that we learned during this course. This idea can be associated with the fact that the men are considered the “One” in this case, while women are considered the “Other.” The men are considered to have the power while women are powerless in the fact that they can not stand up for themselves at times to the men to help address the pay gap problem. This systemic injustice is not only a problem for my friend, but it is a problem for many women across the world.
References
Spiggle, Tom. “The Gender Pay Gap: Why It’s Still Here.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 May
2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2021/05/25/the-gender-pay-gap-why-its-
still-here/?sh=53db8c527baf.
Spiggle, Tom. “The Gender Pay Gap: Why It’s Still Here.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 May
2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2021/05/25/the-gender-pay-gap-why-its-
still-here/?sh=53db8c527baf.
I really enjoyed reading through your context presentation! I also discussed the inequalities between men and women, but focused on a different injustice. I discussed how women are viewed and sexualized by society, and the issue regarding street harassment. It is interesting to realize how many injustices women are still facing today. I also really liked your diagram, it really helps me understand the dramatic differences between the pay.