Another disadvantage for women
Friday, January 7, 2011
I read an interesting article, “Regrets of a stay at home Mom” and found myself sympathizing with someone I never would have expected to sympathize with. I have always been and probably always will be a strong supporter of women. Although, I must confess that I subconsciously separate women into two categories: women with children and women without. This is only because of my lack of children and my lack of ability to understand or sympathize with women who do have children. While unfair to categorize, I think I do this mainly because I chose a life without them and enjoy my life how it is. When they say it is different when they are your own, I hesitate to believe that. What if it isn’t? Can I give it back? Thus, I am more times than not unsympathetic to women with children. I find almost all children extremely annoying and somehow these children are always sticky. This I do not understand.
But I digress. More importantly to the topic, I think there is another disadvantage that women have to face. Here is another consequence of being a woman and trying to be equal only this time they are also falling short of other women who have never had children.
The article was written by a woman who is recently divorced and has two teenagers. Her narrative describes her panic of not being able to get back in the workforce after being a stay at home mom for so many years. I find myself going back to the same line over and over again: “Now my ex, still a reporter, is making $30,000 a year more than that (being there same salary years before), while I have been passed over for jobs paying $20,000 less.” She explains how there are a lack of jobs out there and how a woman that has been out of the workforce so long has even more odds against her.
We all know that women make less money than men. We know that women get promotions at a lower rate and are often for less money even when offered. But now women who are mothers are at an even greater disadvantage to the lower paying jobs than the women who are not mothers. We knew that there has always been a bias to women within child bearing age due to the fact that many of them need a few weeks to take care of a new born baby, but it seems that even when the children can drive themselves to college, there still is that bias toward these women.
The point I am making is that I think only a woman can understand what it feels like to know you are given less credit for saying the same thing a man says AND you have to prove yourself first. It is often that respect is automatically given to a man while a woman has to earn it. But now, while already having to take two steps for every one male step, women having children have to take three steps to keep up.
I cannot imagine what it feels like to be a single parent, with limited funds, little to no chance of finding a job that can pay the bills and no foreseeable solution to fix the problem. And all due to the fact that you stayed at home to care for your children while your spouse worked. But now that you are divorced, life carries on fine for the spouse while you are quickly going up creek without a paddle.
All I can say is that this makes me sad.
posted by Sonya @ 1/07/2011 03:25:00 PM,
