Victory for feminism - The wage gap is closed

[Capetan Mihali]

Women own ~1% of global capital.

SOURCE:  ANERA pamphlet I got in the mail today. 

[Martinus]

However, smart companies will also factor in quality of life issues, and as BB said, that will also include stability as those with families are less likely to move away after they've earned some experience.

Heh, like the fact that people with kids are more likely to be chained to the paycheque. 

Who are you laughing at?  I'm not the only sole breadwinner on this forum...

I'm the sole breadwinner too, only we call it "being a sugar daddy".

Marriage = legalized prostitution.

[Martinus]

The problem is not those willing to work more being paid more - its the exact reverse. The problem is that, at least in the professions, there is no option to work less and be paid less. It is either compete for the big bucks and the big hours, or get out.

Yeah, that's the problem. There is really no real option for reduced work for less pay (in my lawfirm, the head of my department is a mother, so three of my female colleagues (comparable level to me) work at 4/5 of week for 4/5 of pay, but in other departments, headed by guys, this is not really acceptable - and these female colleagues really probably put in more work than just 4 days a week, as this is always "subject to requirements of the service").

Edit: At least in Anglosaxon countries and countries like Poland, which adopted a kind of Anglosaxon model of capitalism. For example in our offices in Amsterdam and Brussels, it is pretty normal for lawyers to leave office at 5 p.m., or work part-time/from home, even counsels and partners. And my work colleague ex-husband, who is a partner at a Swedish firm, also leaves home at 5-6 p.m., because the Swedish management looks down at people staying long hours (ineffective, obsessive, likely to burn out etc.). 

So it's really a matter of culture and whether it is possible/useful to change it.

[Martinus]

However, smart companies will also factor in quality of life issues, and as BB said, that will also include stability as those with families are less likely to move away after they've earned some experience. Ultimately, I think it will all work out as a huge positive for society as a whole, as I said.

This is not the experience of the HK civil service.  We overwhelmingly prefer fresh university graduates with no experience (and therefore most likely are singles).  We tried to recruit people with say 7 or 10 years of experience.  The inevitable result is that most of them leave after 1-2 years.  The fresh grads tend to stay until they retire, which is what the civil service needs.

Civil service/bureaucracy everywhere is not exactly the normal kind of employer, so their method of choosing new employees is not really a market standard. It's a job for people with a pathologically high risk aversion.

[Brazen]

This is a tangent, but I've joined another forum (I know, I'm a traitor) to do with health and fitness. The membership is mainly female and mainly American. I'm completely shocked at how Yank women define themselves by their partners and families. No joke, about half the forum names are along the lines of:

clintswifemomof4
amysmommy
stayhomemom78
brunosbabe

What's up with that?!

Unsurprisingly, there's a fair amount of breakdowns when they find themselves abandoned.

[Valmy]

What's up with that?!

No idea.  I certainly do not get that sense in daily life (well besides parents doting on their kids but that goes for men and women) or on the forums I frequent from American women.

But then the forums I am on are sports and nerd ones so not the type to attract the health and beauty crowd.

[Valmy]

I'm the sole breadwinner too, only we call it "being a sugar daddy".

Marriage = legalized prostitution.

I am a dirty whore

Actually not really.  A whore could at least get more than one client.  Whores probably have alot more sex than married people also 

[Malthus]

This is a tangent, but I've joined another forum (I know, I'm a traitor) to do with health and fitness. The membership is mainly female and mainly American. I'm completely shocked at how Yank women define themselves by their partners and families. No joke, about half the forum names are along the lines of:

clintswifemomof4
amysmommy
stayhomemom78
brunosbabe

What's up with that?!

Unsurprisingly, there's a fair amount of breakdowns when they find themselves abandoned.

You joined a soccer mommy forum and wonder why the forumites identify as mommies? 

[Malthus]

I'm the sole breadwinner too, only we call it "being a sugar daddy".

Marriage = legalized prostitution.

If only. 

[Brazen]

Be the way, if you ever want to see the "Facebook angle" in full effect, check out the pictures on a weight-loss forum (yes I confess, that's what it is). You'll go from "She's got such a pretty face, why does she need to lose weight?" to "Holy fuck, she weighs 280lbs!" in no time at all!

[Valmy]

Be the way, if you ever want to see the "Facebook angle" in full effect, check out the pictures on a weight-loss forum (yes I confess, that's what it is). You'll go from "She's got such a pretty face, why does she need to lose weight?" to "Holy fuck, she weighs 280lbs!" in no time at all!

To be fair lots of fat women are pretty facially.  Just like lots of hot skinny women have horsey face.

[HVC]

To be fair lots of fat women are pretty facially.  Just like lots of hot skinny women have horsey face.

and somewhere inbetween those extreems are those unfortunate big girls with pretty faces who lose weight and get horsey faces. they just can't win.

[crazy canuck]

That is the problem with these kinds of gender inequality examples.  People can manipulate the data to show what they wish.

Nobody said it was easy. But I can't help feeling most other arguments for status quo are simply asking to be content with whatever situation we are in, however unfair it might be - or to let "the market" (whatever that is) - deal very gradually with any unfair situation. I don't think the line "life is unfair, deal with it" offers a great moral, or political, or social, beacon.

But you are assuming there is still generally an unfair situation.  Where is the data to support that?  And therein lies the rub.  People asserting unfairness continues to exist are forced to compare jobs that are differnent and then draw comparisons to suit their agenda because there are no situations where men and women do the same job but are paid differently.  Rather there is abundent evidence that females have a much easier time obtaining certan jobs (mainly well paying, secure union jobs) because of expressly preferential treatment both in the public and private sectors.

Further one must also deal with the growing body of evidence the the efforts to encourage female participation in education has had a signfiicant detrimental effect on males because, despite what the all people are equal agenda asserts, boys and girls do learn differently.  The outcome is plummeting participation and performance rates for males in high school and post secondary education.

If one wished to address unfairness one might come to the conclusion that the pendulum has swung too far and that perhaps we need to think about creating systems that are fair to both males and females.

[crazy canuck]

I'm the sole breadwinner too, only we call it "being a sugar daddy".

Marriage = legalized prostitution.

If only. 

Marti really should stop trying to offer his opinion in areas outside his knowledge.  That might mean we no longer hear from him on most matters, including legal threads, but I am willing to make that sacrifice.

[HVC]

To be fair, Marti never stipulated the that the quality or frequency of the services provided by the wife/whore was satisfactory