I can. A quick google search is coming up with a lot of initiatives calling for things like affordable child care, paid parental leave, and equal wages for equal work.
Center for American Progress, Women's Initiative
Massachusetts Women in the Workplace Initiative
Obama Administration fact sheet on women's and family initiatives
National Committee on Pay Equity
And you're completely sure that none of these drag men down, rather than empower women?
If you, for example, fight for equality in research or higher academic positions, more women will probably mean fewer men unless the total number of positions is increased, which is unlikely. Is this dragging men down?
Out out interest are we talking equality of opportunity or equality of outcome because you and I know they are not mutually inclusive nor does necessarily even logically follow.
I am weak in mechanics and trigonometry. You could put me in highly intensive specialised tutoring and I would be none the wiser.
Equal opportunity. Meritocracy. The best person for the job and all that. Double blind if need be.
We have that now though. Woman can be or do what they want AND have the protection under the law against discrimination.
With this mind, do women tend to choose similar jobs to men now? No.
Why not? Because women in general prioritise work/life balance off against higher wages. Where they want to though, they can. My daughter's best friend is goingbto be a carpenter, whilst other female peers have much more gender typical aspirations.
I support whatever my daughter wishes to be.
I was talking about academics, in this case, which is kind of different, around here at least.
OK, then again are you talking about about equal opportunities or equal outcomes. You know they are two very different things and not mutually inclusive (and that the answer is not "Yes")
Yes.
Seriously, I thought I was being clear.
No, unfortunately not. Less academics in a field is NOT necessarily discrimination. It may be choice, simply that.
My little brother was a peer to the older sister of someone who went on to become an international star. If the other high schools in the area did not have that much success in generating actor, then it is not that they are doing anything wrong or that there was favoritism or discrimination.
Pretending to have a gripe about unequal outcome would be silly, in this instance.....as it would in Academics
Not necessarily discrimination, no, but if the numbers are consistently in favour of men in the higher positions, I'd say there's something fishy going on.
Not at all. There are for example more deaths and injuries in the Workplace for men vs women. In fact 95% are male (IE men are killed or injured doing their work at 1900% higher rate then females).
Is there "something fishy " here too OR is it the females CHOOSE of their own volition not to so the type of work that would make them likely to be a statistic?
If we apply this to academia, it certainly is very possible that it comes down to choice.
I love seeing hardcore Feminist ladies fire up about there not being enough female politicians, I ask them why they personally are not running for office. They always give me choice base excuses.....which I sink their premise with
Because the causes to occupational deaths statistics are obviously comparable with the number of women in higher positions in academia? I have to say that this one I didn't see coming.
But there are other possible explanations. This one, for example.
Yeah, it sounds like drawing a very low bow with this, but it isn't.
The reason of course is we are using it not to compare dangerous jobs and death with academia and the relative sedentary and safe intellectual pursuits we associate it with BUT rather the similarity on the issue that matters, why does one gender not factor as much in academia, why does one factor not factor as much in workplace death and injury.
This is the similarity. The answer for both is the same or similar versions of.
The problem to is that there is a desire to call difference in outcome as discrimination or sexism or what have you.
This is where I personally stand IF you give both genders teh same rights and same opportunities and options and protections against discrimination, then what you are left with is individual choice.
The only way you can stop people making career choices that you do not approve of, is to take away that freedom of choice. "YOU want to be a Psychologist? Too bad we need you to do Hard Science specialisation", "You want to be a hairdresser? No, we are down on numbers in your gender for high rise window washers"
IF you disagree with this, then you need to let go and let men and women chose whatever it is that they want.
I would have loved to have been a lawyer. I think I would have done well. I did not choose this path and regret it. I do not think I would have wanted someone insisting on it though. I prefer the ability as an adult to make the choices for myself.