Society & Lifestyle >
Feminism & Women's Rights
RSS FeedShould US companies be required to provide equal pay to women and men?
Results so far:
| Yes | 86% | 1765 votes | Total: 2049 votes | |
| No | 14% | 284 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesShould Us Companies be Required to Give Equal Pay to Men and Women?
Of Course!
Yes, indeedee! In the millennium century of 2008, and it is a great place to live and work. This cannot possible be a problem, or it should not have to be at this time of our lives. One person does a job they should get paid regardless of their sex. It does not matter if the job is performed by a man or a woman, same pay. The only time it should reflect differently, is if someone is not doing their job, or the performance is not up to par and getting paid as if it were. This rule should apply to a man or a woman, never mind the sex. If a person can do their job as they should, same pay.
In the sixties, men said women working took money from them to feed their families. Well, there is no excuse anymore. Didn't women win their rights? Wasn't that part of the bra burning ceremonies after all? I thought things were equal a long time ago, what is wrong with the government?
The divorce rate runs along what, fifty percent? Or pretty darn close. Single parent families have to make a living, whether they are men or women. Shoot, married couples usually have to both work to make ends meet these days. Prices are high, thanks to the gas and recession. People have to live, car payments, mortgages, and for some child support and alimony.
Even if one person in a couple could handle it all, the other should still feel freedom to work and get the pay deserved for the job,as long as anyone does the job they are paid to do.
This is actually an insulted question to admit "no" to.
As we type our thoughts, there are men and women in Iraq, having to leave their families, to fight in a war, so we can be free of terrorists. They protect us every day of our lives so we can discuss whether it is appropriate for the government to say officially, men and women should get the same pay for the same job.
I am sorry, it really is insulting. Women living alongside the men in the filthy desert, eating food pouches, carrying weapons protecting us, our government should wake up and see the light. We need women working, as we do men, getting the same pay for the same job. If Hillary Clinton wins, do we pay her less than George? How can this not be a law? Same work for the same pay.
If the US government can not see this, perhaps, a couple of senators or congressmen, male of course, should live like the women in Iraq for a couple of months and walk a mile in their shoes. As a woman, I know I could not. They deserve their salary they earn today as much as the men. !
I only hope another hundred years won't pass before this matter is settled and equal.
Learn more about this author, fromthegreenroom.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
No
No private companies should be compelled by law to provide blanket, no-exceptions equal pay for women and men. Organizations that do business with the government may have to conform to controls that mandate specific equality practices, but even they should have considerable discretion in pay scales.
Pay for any employee anywhere should be based only on education, skills, merit, performance and value to the employer, regardless of sex, race or any other socially-constructed criteria. For instance, if a man and woman are working side-by-side putting together a product, the one who does the most efficient and productive job should be paid more. The Russian and Chinese Communist governments tried the everyone-is-equal-at -the-workplace baloney, and it just didn't work.
If blind equality invades all aspects of American business, then should the utility baseball player who achieves a .200 average and hits no home runs be paid the same as Barry Bonds? Of course not. Not only does Bonds perform his duties much more constructively, but his fame attracts many more paying fans into the ballpark than the other guy.
In addition to sports, the same premise applies to other aspects of America's free enterprise economy. A popular actor in a hit movie or TV show may not spend any more time acting than the studio stagehand spends moving scenery around. Which one gets much more money because his training, skills and work bring in more money for the studio?
I joined the Navy at age 18, graduated from boot camp and was assigned to a ship. After a few weeks aboard, I was sure I was much smarter and more productive than all of the sailors and officers who ordered me around. I was wrong, of course, but that's what I thought. I could have spent the rest of my Navy time sitting around griping about the unfairness of it all.
Then, with a little research, I found there were many ways of improving my lowly place in the Navy pecking order. I took advantage of all I could, including college-level correspondence courses and striking (apprenticing) for higher rates. I also volunteered for extra duties... forget that old salts' warning: don't ever volunteer ... and did the best I could at every task. Some of the lowly jobs were awful, including chipping deck paint, working in the galley (kitchen) and cleaning heads (toilets). But you never saw any cleaner soup and/or toilet bowls.
Whatever those dumb-dumbs in charge of me ordered, I did it and did it well. Of course, after a couple of months at sea, I began to realize that most of those dumb-dumbs were actually much smarter than I had originally thought. And I even admitted one or two were smarter than I was.
I took all the tests I could, and by the time I had served 18 months, I advanced from the lowest seaman rate to petty officer second class. I took a Navy-wide competitive exam and was promoted to chief petty officer at the very junior age of 23.
That career progress wasn't easy, and it took a lot of work and determination. There were obstructions and some traditional prejudices ... not based on male/female equality ... along the way, but I worked through them. I believe every American citizen must be treated fairly in all possible legal ways, but employers and the free marketplace ... not some outside agency ... should determine which ones, male or female, deserve to be paid more.
Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Feminism & Women's Rights
- Beauty contests are sexist
- Is feminism outdated?
