In the book "Getting Even," co-author E.J. Graff puts forward a number of examples of abuse, discrimination, and harassment lawsuits that have been settled. Some examples listed in the book are about a police officer who got discriminated at work after her pregnancy and a woman who got money stuffed into her bra and then was asked to perform oral sex by her manager There was also the mention of an established medical doctor who found out that her salary was much less than her junior male colleagues. Graff includes the account of one female worker at a chemical plant harassed by her Christian male colleagues because they believed that the workplace was no place for a woman and that they were superior to her. The book 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 colleagues. People may question the claims made by the book but the wage gap between women and men has actually widened between 1990 and 2003. According to the data, women with only a GED or a high school diploma lost earned dramatically less than their male counterparts. It also showed that on an average, women are paid 23% less than men are. In 1990, the difference in pay was pegged at 18% compared with the 23% at 2003, which shows that gender wage pay has only widened since then. The only group of women who fared better in terms of salary grade was female college graduates who closed the wage gap from 29% down to 14% between 1990 and 2003. Nevertheless, the starting salary for women with college degrees is still lower than men of the same qualification. A different survey also showed that when people were asked how much women should earn compared men, respondents said that 80 cents to a man's dollar was fair wage for a woman. Ironically, 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 problem. The difference in wage gap translates into bigger problems for women. In the end, women have lost more money than men have and thereby lose the opportunity to live comfortably 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 family and children. Sometimes, these lost wages have meant bankruptcy for women. How somebody could give up so much money knowingly is beyond reason. A long-standing reason that most 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 are. They also believe that the majority of women prefer to concentrate more on their personal lives than on their careers. The study by the deputy attorney general has certain faults. It does not stress important points like how women's wages and statuses are sidelined when they need to take a paid vacation, call in sick, or avail of a maternity leave. Still the book "Getting Even" does a very good job in reminding women that they will not be able solve their problems without raising their collective voice and working towards sustainable and long-term solutions. Women also need to be more aware of the wage gap by finding out how their male counterparts are making in the same job, which can be checked at wageproject.org. Murphy launched the site. |
