2.09.2005
What wage gap?
NPR's All Things Considered broadcasted a story yesterday evening about a groundbreaking county in Texas that shatters talk of any kind of wage gap."Texas?!," you may find yourself asking.
Yes. Texas.
Turns out that not only do women make more money than men in King County, TX, but they actually make 30 percent more than their male counterpart.
Is the wage gap between men and women closing? And is it starting in a place where we would least expect it to start?
Sorry to be the crusher of souls, but not so. Turns out that all the men in this county are just cowboys, and low-paid cowboys at that. Women, on the other hand, have the lucrative jobs of "teacher" and "court clerk."
And regardless of the wage gap, the traditional male-female roles remain much the same as anywhere else. The biggest ranch in the county may be owned by a woman in Fort Worth, but it's managed by men. Men are the decision-makers at the courthouse, and both the principal and superintendent at the school are men.
Traditional male-female roles? Could we find a better way to put this in the future? Like, old-timey male-female roles, where men were the decision makers? Because, you know what? I don't find it acceptable that the "tradition" states men should make the decisions, just because they are men. So let's update that terminology, NPR.
Anonymous at 5:30 PM
1 Comments
-
at Thursday, February 10, 2005 8:06:00 AM
said... Much as I like your folksy phrasing of "old-timey male-female roles," can I just state the obvious and call it patriarchy? Oh dear, there I go again... :)
--Annamaria
