March 8: What American Women Are Lacking

In modern America, women still have barriers in their careers.

Фото: Depositphotos

In the US, 8 March is not a day off. On this day, men do not give women sweets and flowers. Here, as in many countries of the world, March 8 is the International Day for the Rights of Women and World Peace.

And although, if you look from Ukraine, you might get the impression that the USA is the country of victory of feminism, this is far from being the case.

Yes, there really are quite a few women here in leadership positions in government and - much less - in big business. As in Ukraine, American women have equal access to education and full political rights as men. And this is far from a natural phenomenon - many women have had to fight for this, enduring ridicule no less offensive than in the new Right Sector video about feminists and LGBT people. And in most third world countries, women are still deprived of equal access to education and political and economic rights with men.

Women came to work not because they were tempted by feminists.

Most women in the US work. Almost 47% of all workers are women.

Why so - many reasons. First, women, like men, have certain talents and abilities that they can realize in the labor market.

Secondly, raising children and maintaining living standards is no worse than that of parents; today it is difficult, if not impossible, for one paycheck.

Third, the economy needs women's work. Although 57% of all women are working now, unemployment is at a very low level. The rapid development of science and technology is also taking place thanks to the contribution of millions of well-educated women working in technology companies, research laboratories, in business and in education.

Фото: Depositphotos

And finally, the principles of Maslow's pyramid of needs apply to women as well as to men. After the basic physical needs are met, social needs arise, and then spiritual growth. Even the most beautiful person cannot give everything to a woman. A favorite thing can significantly expand the circle of communication, and give life meaning. Working mothers, although they are more tired and sleep less, suffer less depression than housewives.

By the way, you shouldn’t think that women first sat in caves, then in huts, castles, houses and apartments, while men hunted mammoths, gave them fur coats and carried bags. And then something came over them from feminist propaganda - they put on their pants and went to the office.

Women have always worked hard. A recent archaeological find suggests that the musculature of women in primitive society was more developed than that of modern elite athletes. This is clearly not from sitting in the caves. In the agrarian society, women worked on the field, doing hard work at home, and giving birth to a child almost every year. I once tried to raise the iron of my great-grandmother - here we definitely need the muscles of the nuclear pusher.

With the beginning of the industrial revolution, when men left households and went to work in factories and plants, it became clear that they alone were not enough. First sent to work children. In 1820, in the North of the USA, half the workers in the factories were guys younger than 11. Only rich women could afford not to work, and maids, seamstresses, laundresses, who also had their own families, worked from morning to night.

And throughout the twentieth century, women worked outside the home - as teachers, secretaries, factory workers, and salespeople. Some only before marriage, some - when the children grew up, but there was no such thing that all or almost all women were busy exclusively with housework.

In modern America, women still have career barriers.

Фото: Depositphotos

There are still prejudices when applying for a job, which was proved by a series of experiments when a resume with a male and the same name with a female name was submitted to the position. Women earn 80% of what men earn. In part, this is because women go to less-paid occupations where there is more flexibility, for example, by designers, there is more free time, for example, summer holidays in schools in the case of teachers.

However, there is such that women do the same at the same level, but receive less. Two such scandalous cases were the discovery of Air Force editor Kerry Grace that she earned a lot less than her colleagues in the same position. This caused a great resonance in American society, where the situation and culture are similar to the British. Another loud case was the story when actress Michelle Williams received less than a thousand dollars for re-filming a few scenes, and actor Mark Volber - one and a half million.

By the way, the “Me Too” movement is not only about sex, gender relations and bad manners. It's also about the loss of economic empowerment for women. Harvey Weinstein directly ordered that actresses who turned him down not be invited to castings, ruining their careers. But in most cases, women have to make their own choices. Of course, it’s easy to say, “If she respects herself, she should leave.” But why should a woman who has invested a lot of money in education, enormous efforts, and perhaps has a unique talent, sacrifice all this just because someone cannot control herself?

However, many women in the United States make serious careers. The difference in earnings of young women and men in big cities is minimal. Many women do not experience or feel any signs of discrimination - especially young, talented and ... childless.

Hard choice mom

Everything changes as soon as a baby is born. I myself became interested in these topics only after I became pregnant. There is no maternity leave in the United States, and parental leave is limited to three months without pay at state-owned enterprises and enterprises with more than 50 employees. Some large companies, for example, Facebook or Google, offer significantly better conditions, but there are many employers who allow mothers to take newborn care leave of the entire 4-6 weeks at their own expense.

And it’s not so difficult to survive a 4-month-old baby from work - regularly ask for overtime work.

Фото: Depositphotos

The education system and work are organized in such a way that every family has a mother or at least a grandmother who is ready to pick up a child from school at lunchtime or to feed children with dinner and put to bed if a night shift or business trip occurs. The difference between reality and fantasy is compensated by ordinary Americans from their own pockets and costs a lot of money and nerves.

In the absence of a social policy that would help families combine parenting and work, women look for their own, original ways.

In 1980, women were urged to focus on their careers, not giving in to men in anything, postponing the birth of children until later, supposedly modern medicine allows it. But when researcher Silvia En Gewlett surveyed the most successful women in the 41-55 age, 46% percent of them did not have children. However, some never planned them. The rest — top managers, partners of large law firms, and television producers — suffered that they never became mothers.

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, there was another mini-movement, when some highly educated and successful women in the United States decided to quit working altogether, devoting themselves entirely to raising children. This has raised the standards of parenting and early development to unattainable - and therefore unhealthy - heights. They have become a market for products such as the verbal pedometer, which measures the number of words spoken to communicate with a newborn!

But many cannot afford to quit their jobs. And those who do not leave work experience a deep sense of guilt in front of their children - what is called here “maternal guilt.”

New American decision was to recommend mothers to start their own business and work from home, but this carries additional risks. Half-day work can be a good way out, but often this ends up with such an employee doing a full-fledged job at half the salary, voluntarily giving up career growth.

In the US, fathers have more free time per week than mothers on 3.

What about father?

The process of changing traditional roles, which began with the industrial revolution, is still ongoing, accelerating after the post-industrial. Competition is higher. The work day is longer. There are practically no advantages, such as physical strength, for men, especially with an increase in the share of the service sector. More and more women are working, and their contribution to the family budget is becoming more significant.

Arle Goschchild in the book “The Second Shift” (Second shift) published the results of her in-depth study of the organization of the distribution of household responsibilities in 50 couples, where both spouses work full time and have small children (in the years 1970-1988). According to her observations, about 20 percent of them are “egalitarian,” that is, they share responsibilities equally. Seventy percent of men do more than a third but less than half of all housework. And 10% - they don’t help when asked, or nothing at all.

All the wives in these ten families with whom the researcher spoke felt that this was unfair, although they often tried to hide their resentment with considerations that they were “very well organized and it’s not difficult for them”, “men don’t know how to do anything anyway”, “this after all, it’s a woman’s business.”

Some parted. Others - constantly quarreled with men, demanding more participation. Still others silently pulled the strap, undermining their own health.

Some of them punished the person, limiting his contact with the child and participation in decision-making around the house (“he can’t do anything and doesn’t know anything!”). Others, or the same ones, refused sex and emotional support (“I’m tired”).

In the US today, on average, dads have more free time per week on 3 than mothers, which is much less than when Goshchild did her research. In 1960-70-s, according to her calculations, it was 15 hours.

Where to take tenderness?

In Ukraine, on 8 Martha, it is customary for women to desire beauty, tenderness and femininity. But neither harassment at work, nor chronic stress from a sense of responsibility for everything that happens in the family, and - guilt for not giving the child time and attention, nor physical tiredness and lack of sleep contribute to the flourishing of tenderness and beauty. How much candy and flowers help this once a year.

Women have the same rights to self-realization, economic opportunity, health and recreation as men. And the cult of the “superwoman” in the USA or the “bereginya” in Ukraine, as well as a given coat and an open door for a lady, will not replace this.

The original column is published on the website. Ukrainian Service “Голоса America".

Text translation prepared editionNew time".

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