Emma Watson speaks at the UN

[DanieMarie]

Re: Emma Watson speaks at the UN

In America, where it is (technically) illegal to discriminate in pay, women (when controlled for all other factors, including childbearing, etc) still make less than men in equivalent jobs (something ranging between 91 cents or 80 cents on the dollar, depending on the study)--basically, "work patterns" only explain away about half pay gap when equivalent jobs are compared.

When you look at a study--ANY study, you need to find the original study and read the methodology involved and think about the motivations of the people doing the study. They should explain what data they used, how they controlled for the additional variables, how they analyzed the statistics, etc. These studies generally don't just look at "all women's wages" vs "all mens wages"--they compare commensurate types of jobs in the same career fields requiring the same education level.

...and also, if we (in the US) had more acceptance and accessibility to equivalent paternal leave, the effect of maternal leave should be mitigated if its a matter of time off vs discrimination.

Plus, ya know...I was a woman in the military. I got paid the same thing as a man in my pay grade. That doesn't mean that there wasn't discrimination when it came time for evaluations (which determine, for a large part, promotion).

Yep. Well said.

Parental leave is doing a lot to help women in the workplace over here. We've had maternity leave for quite some time, but for the past few years, men can take it too. It's extremely helpful for helping women get employed in the first place. In the past, women had trouble getting hired AT ALL (let alone getting equal pay) because employers just assumed they would go have a baby and take a year off or quit all together. Now that parents can split the duty (and men can even take the whole time if they want), that discrimination is slowly going away. Men still rarely split parental leave 50-50 and very few take more time than women, but it is helping. If anything, it's helping shift the concept of parenting to both parents, which helps shift responsibilities to both parents. So, it's not just mom staying home with a sick kid anymore; dad will do it too and take a sick day himself to do it (luckily, we have the legal right to paid sick days here. Worker's rights in Germany are so much better than a lot of countries....I have to give it that!)

I have a lot of faith that things are improving here. Germany often looks to Sweden for tips on gender equality, and Sweden is doing really, really well. Both countries still have a ways to go, but I think that if we keep standing our ground, it will happen.

Just an interesting note, but "feminism" isn't such a dirty word here. I find that helpful.