Linda Hirschman gets it backwards again

Submitted by Becky on Sun, 06/03/2007 - 8:35am

I read Hirschman's op-ed piece in the Washington Post today: You're Not Earning as Much as the Guys? Here's Why. The thesis is that women make less than men, not so much because of discrimination, but because women choose lower-paying jobs in the nonprofit sector. "Even within the same major, students can prepare for the jobs that pay better, if they care to. Teaching math (which many women choose) pays less than working for a computer company or going into business," she writes.

Dream on, Dr. Hirschman. Why do you think teachers are underpaid to begin with? BECAUSE it's female-dominated, so society undervalues the profession. If women were suddenly to "go to work for computer companies" in large numbers, I guarantee that salaries at such companies would drop.

World Events

Exactly

Submitted by Lynn on Sun, 06/03/2007 - 8:47am.

We've already seen it in the medical profession; the more women who become doctors, the lower paid the field. Second wave feminism makes me crazy sometimes.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

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Interesting conclusions

Submitted by Shaun on Sun, 06/03/2007 - 12:23pm.

I read the article and was struck by this argument:

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If women just don't want to become engineers or run big firms, well, it's a free country. But the social consequences of these decisions are not positive. Consider that just as AAUW released its report, the big news about women in the media -- as reported by Women in Media and the News -- was that the reality-TV show "America's Next Top Model" was running an episode featuring the scarily thin competitors posing as victims in a shoot about murder and suicide. Surely this isn't the best we can offer our young women to aspire to.

Uh, the consequence of women not running big firms is that they will be anorexic models? Come again?

The whole "get back to work" thing also strikes me as very classist -- she's talking about women educated in a particular way who ought to be taking their place in very particular positions in particular sectors of the economy. And even then, this betters the world how? Are we in danger of a grave shortage of junior vice-presidents, mid-level managers, and other bureaucratic pencil pushers? Is our economy on the brink of collapse for lack of hedge fund managers or deputy editors at beauty magazines? Is my daughter missing out because I am not setting an example as an overpaid ad exec? (Nothing against these jobs, but come on, we're not talking Florence Nightengale or Clara Barton here.)

The bottom line is I think editors and publishers know that Linda Hirschman sells, so they print her, which furthers the idea that she is saying something that resonates with reality. Argh!

Shaun
www.redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

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not only that

Submitted by Lynn on Sun, 06/03/2007 - 12:54pm.

But I am getting tired of being told what to do for the sake of "women." It's like Flo Kennedy used to say, bless her: "Sisterhood is powerful, if it don't kill you first."

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

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