Currently in American Studies we are reading a series of plays called "The Kentucky Cycle". Each play takes place on the same plot of land in Kentucky, and the play discusses how society has changed over time. I began thinking (not just because our final paper is about this i promise) about whether our society actually has progressed over the years or whether it is just a myth that we as Americans subscribe to. I did some quick research on modern-day gender relations. I know that in the past women were expected to work at home, get paid less if they did work, and everything like that, however I was quite surprised to find out about what is going on in modern times.
A quick search brought me to the University of Cambridge, where they are doing a study on just this subject. In the article it states that while there has been a general change in how males and females are viewed in society, some things have stayed the same. For example, women no longer are expected to work at home, and many of them are working the same jobs that men would have previously been expected to work. However, women are still being payed less than men overall. Why is this? I am really not sure. I can a guess though, and that is that our society is used to thinking of women as less than men. Even though we think that many things change in our society, it seems that some states of mind never do. Because we still think of men as the prominent workers in a family, it seems right in our minds that they should get payed more.
Looks like it is a cycle after all. But that's just my opinion. How about the rest of you, do you subscribe to the myth?
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ReplyDeleteI am kind of mixed on agreement here with you Jon. First off, nowadays women can at least find jobs, and just because of that there clearly has been some progress made. However, the fact that "women are still being payed less than men overall" does prove that there is still much discrimination in the work place. I find that, while flipping through college guidebooks, women go to college more often. Many schools I look, and I believe generally many schools around the country, have more girls than boys. The fact that women go to college more often, yet are payed less once in the workplace, proves there still really is strong prejudice against women in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteJon, Thanks for your thoughtful meta-post (and for your earlier GSH post!). This one nicely links to an article on a contemporary study. My only suggestions are to quote the article's findings and to distinguish between British and U.S. gender relations if you can.
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