(Why) Are Women Paid Less?July 8, 2010The Bible strongly influences on people of western hemisphere as it said, “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him (Gen, 2:18).” Whether the Bible intended to mean that the woman’s position was only a helper for man or not, from the beginning of time, women were regarded inferior to men and only belong to home. And these beliefs or prejudices from the past still have a strong influence on people of today. You may think it is a premodern and irrational way of thinking; however, in most of world, the majority who own their businesses are male. But, as women got more education and professional training, more and more women are starting their own businesses. In addition, women’s ownership of businesses in the U.S. has increased rapidly in recent decades, the number of women-owned firms increased by 19.8 percent from 1997 to 2002, compared with a growth rate of 10.3 percent for U.S. firms overallnly half of the average revenue that male owners made. Also, the growing rate of the revenue gained by female owners increased by less than 15 percent, compared with 22 percent for U.S. firms overall.Women entrepreneurs seem to encounter some problems in business that men may not face. The key factors are that women-owned firms are smaller and less advanced than men-owned firms or women owners are being discriminated against. And one consequence of drastic increase in participation of women in business field is that women-owned firms are relatively new compared with men-owned firms, which means women owners have less experience and skills. Thus, women may have specific problems with raising fund, and may have less chance to accumulate skills and connections in business network than men generally have.However, one recent research revealed that women-owned firms started with smaller amounts of capital; 61.8 percent of women start their firms with less than $25,000, compared with 55.9 per women owners have average work experience of 9 years, compared to men owners have 13 years of experience on average. Furthermore, women owners work 40 hours per week; on the other hand, men owners work average hours of 43 per week. This fact may explain why women-owned firms are less profitable. But this does not mean women owners are willing to accept lower profits. The argument that women owners care less about financial success is the justification for women’s lower wages and ignores researches that show women are no less concerned than men owners about financial outcomes. It leads only to victim blaming. Third, it could be explained whether women-owned firms are less experienced comparing the number of previous business starts; women owners have experience in average number of 0.35, on the other hand, men owners have 0.45.Nowadays, women employee may not be discriminated as they used to be. More than any other factor, the issue of sex discrimination emerged from a past belief thatmen. In the 1960s, women protested against several issues including lower pay, lower status, and gender discrimination. Furthermore, they successfully lobbied for governmental protections such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Women found new rights and opportunities in the workplace. However, reality does not always comply with the law. Women continue to be discriminated against in many ways. Still, many women encounter a lack of access to the labor market, and the wage gap.However, the service industry is nearly predominant by women. It represents another broad category of employment called the pink-collar jobs. Also, fields of nursing, education, and librarianship are so dominated by women in their early professional position. Finally, we cannot easily imagine men workers in the historical involvement of women in domestic or housework type employment. And as more single female parents entering the business world creates need for child care. Trth-largest expense in most working families.Overall, it seems to be almost impossible for women to get the same conditions and treatments with men in business field in the near future. Although women’s positions are surely improved than the past, to achieve the equality with men, many things must be overcome first.ReferencesAlicia M. Robb, Susan Coleman. (2009). Characteristics of New Firms: A Comparison by Gender The Kauffman Firm Survey. Web.Chauvin, Keith W., Ronald A. Ash. (1994). Gender Earnings Differentials in Total Pay, Base Pay, and Contingent Pay Industrial Labor Relations and Review 47, no. 4. Print.Robb, Alicia M. (2009). Gender differences in business performance: evidence from the Characteristics of Business Owners survey, 375-395. Springer Netherlands. Print.U.S. Census Bureau. (2007). United States economic census: Management of Companies and Enterprises. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). Employment, Hours, and Earning?1
Hills like white elephants – Ernest HemingwayA white elephant was given to a nobleman by a king in the Middle Ages, when the nobleman became powerful and might threaten the king. The king gave the nobleman the white elephant in the name of a gift. It was a very special way to check a nobleman. White elephants are very special animals, thus it could not be refused. Though the nobleman had great wealth, an elephant could not be afforded by one person. Elephants ate too much! Also, the nobleman could not abandon the elephant, because it was a gift from the king. If he abandoned it, the king might become angry. At last, the nobleman became bankrupt and the white elephant came back to the king.Many people say a baby is one of the best gifts from God. I completely agree with them. I love babies and kids. They are amazing creatures to me. I always want to have babies of my own. But some people seem to be unhappy because of pregnancy. Thus, the hills seemed like white elephants to the woman in the story.I think men and women have different positions on unwanted pregnancy. Most people think both a man and a woman should have the same responsibilities for a pregnancy. However, a baby can only be in a woman’s womb. I think it makes a difference. Men easily become indifferent to the fetus and try to avoid their responsibility, because they are not the one who would get an abortion. In addition, some men just want to enjoy sex with woman without responsibility or concern for the relationship. In the story, undoubtedly, the man doesn’t love the woman. He might only have wanted a sexual partner. So the pregnancy might become a headache to him; all he wanted was the woman get an operation without arguing.Though men try to cover their real feelings, women always can feel it. So, the woman in the story said ‘please’ seven times to stop talking with the man. Women have weaker positions than men. They are biologically nearer to the baby. I think the feeling that they are having a baby affects women’s mind. They feel the baby is priceless even though they didn’t want to be pregnant. At the same time, women have a fear of getting an operation. But, most women have no choice but to get the operation. Reality is cruel. It would be very tough to raise a child alone if a man ran away.The man and the woman seem to have a lethargic and unplanned life; they just drink beer looking through windows. They are trying not to think about their problem. Everything is meaningless to them. It made me think of my past life. I have quite a similar experience with the story when I was living with a girlfriend. What I remember is I just wanted to escape from all interferences from others. I didn’t want to think about anything because it made me stressed. The girlfriend and I had a simple patterned life. Time went meaninglessly and faster than any time before. When I broke up with her, I felt that I was very wrong that I wanted to ignore all my problems. Whether I could solve the problems or not, I should have faced them at least and tried to overcome them.The story was sad and I felt down. I thought a lot about my past. And the story helped me to be concerned about women’s opinion about unwanted pregnancy. Though the story was only a few pages it contained so many things with which people could deeply sympathize. The story was like a mirror to me.2144452Unho Nam
(Why) Are Women Paid Less
