Gender Wage Gap

The gender wage gap still goes on today, the gap depends on the hours worked, education, and the job, but can also depend on gender. Of course, a man that works more hours than a woman is going to make more money, but if they work the same hours and same job a man can make more money than a woman. Woman earn seventy-seven cent for every dollar a man makes. Women of color have a greater disadvantage with only sixty-four cents on the dollar for African Americans and fifty-six for Hispanics. (Kaster). The wage gap is also because women choose less demanding jobs and work fewer hours because of kids. When babies are born women tend to take more days off than men, but if you take out the women who had kids the wage gap would disappear. Even in countries like Iceland, Sweden, and The Netherlands have generous family leave and child care policies, women still decide to take more time off and work only part time. Also countries like these have a bigger wage gap, women make sixty-two percent of what men do. (Hymowitz) The feminist theory emphasizes equality between men and women and wants to see women’s lives and experiences represented in sociological studies. (29, Conley). The conflict theory states the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general. (28, Conley). The feminist and conflict theory apply to the gender wage gap by the feminist stating that men and women should have equal rights. Therefore women think they should make the same amount as men do. However, the conflict comes when the traditional role of women as homemakers left them under paid and requiring a spouse to strive. Even in the United States an average women make less than men. Conflict also happens when women who are more educated are unwilling to accept the dominance of men and they strive for more power. (Tonella)

Works Cited

Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011.