Women's Wages - Is It Justified?

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 by: Julie Sarup

The beginning

God made man and woman, and handed over the reins of this
world in their hands. The passing time through centuries, have
witnessed the God’s ordinance being twisted by man, to suit his own
ends. The inception observed the man and woman treading down the lanes
of troubles, hand in hand.

Today

The year 2004 is witnessing all the hustle and bustle of
new technologies, economy rising, fast life, and so on. Despite all
this, what startles me is the ever-increasing oppression on women,
around the globe – be it sexual harassment, cultural oppression,
religious impositions, etc. Being a working woman myself, the most
attention-grabbing anomaly I come across is the difference in the wages
of men and women.

Excerpts of evidence

March 08, 2004 - 20:14, Gulf Daily News by TARIQ KHONJI

"There are many issues that need to be addressed
including laws regarding women's rights and the elimination of
discrimination in both the public and private sector," explained Ms Al
Rowaie.

"For example, we hardly ever find women in very high
positions. They are usually concentrated in middle-level management,
even though their abilities are equal and often exceed those of men.

"We don't have a woman minister yet, with the exception
of Supreme Council for Women secretary-general Lulwa Al Awadhi, who has
the rank of minister but not a minister's portfolio."

Anne Summers' book, The End of Equality, paints a stark picture of women's status in Australia in the 21st century.

Despite winning equal pay for equal work more than 30
years ago, the gap between men’s and women's wages is larger now than a
decade ago. In May 2002, men averaged $839 per week while women were
paid just $555 (66% of men's wages). Figures from the Australian Bureau
of Statistics indicate this gap is still growing: between May 2000 and
May 2002, men's wages increased by $58 while women's rose by only $33.

Holding reins of livelihood!

In practice, employers favor men-workers owing to their
belief that men are more devoted to work than women. Women are
contemplated to be less reliable because they sometimes take leave to
marry, or to have children. Conventionally, men were thought of as the
breadwinner, and therefore worthy of a superior wage. In accordance to
this, a woman's salary was supplementary income only.

Today’s scenario contradicts the myth of “supplementary
income” earned by women. The awareness and adoption of education for
girls have armed them adequately, in order to ease their stand on
“equal wages” demand. Despite the sincere efforts of unsung heroes (and
heroines), the old practice of discrimination still dominate the
employer’s decisions.

What can be done about it?

A quote by Voltaire, “No problem can stand the assault of
sustained thinking.” The foundation stone is not laid through a union’s
establishment, or passing of a bill in the constitution. The flame of
revolution has to kindle up in each person’s heart; that would mark the
real change! The idea is not to profess feminist slogans here, rather
for justification. When a woman is passing the entire criterion
successfully, do not deny her the wages she deserves!

About the Author

Mrs. Julie Sarup, the Mailing List administrator of this group is currently working as Sr. Technical Writer in a German IT company based in India. Software Documentation for the SDLC phases, and New Technologies are her key knowledge areas. In addition to Technical Writing, she has taught Software Engineering to Masters in Science in Information Technology, Gujarat University.

jsarup@rediffmail.com

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