I was reading a NY Times article today titled "As Layoffs Surge, Women may Pass Men in Job Force." I was immediately drawn to the title, wondering what avenues are going to be available to women in the coming years. Due to the typical "male" jobs residing in manufactoring and construction and "women" jobs in human services, women are left to take on the money maker role as layoffs continue during this recession.
As women remain stable in their careers, the male's job aspects continue to decline; yet they "earn 80 cents for each dollar of their male counterparts' income." Shouldn't these layoffs be a sign of the importance of women's work? I believe that society needs to finally see the equality of women and pay them their fare share.
In addition, women are still held accountable for fulfilling domestic duties, such as housework and child care. While women are out there trying to make up the slack from their partner's financial disaster, the men are filling their time at home by "searching for jobs."
What an amazing sight! As these men are laying on the couch, searching for the very few jobs left out there, their wives are working a full day and coming home to a stack of dishes in the sink, hampers overflowing with clothes, and the uncooked dinner in the fridge that needs to be made before the kids come home from school.
When will men get their heads out of their asses and start respecting women's duties in the home. I would postulate that men would have more empathy toward their partners, seeing as they are not working and must tend to the home. But no, they are still stuck with the idea that the women's place still remains in the home, even when they are out working all day earning the living!
The president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, Holly Hartmann, explains that "historically, the way couples dicide household jobs has been fairly resistant to change." Well, I think it's about time for a societal change. A change in which women are respected in their duties, whether that be inside or outside the domestic sphere. If history teaches any lesson, it should be that women and men are equal. This has been shown with the recession, due to the importance of women's careers.
