So, women make $0.78 to every man’s dollar? And people are surprised by this? Apparently Romney perusing “binders full of women” to fill his cabinet in Massachusetts wasn't enough to ensure equal pay, even though he was understanding and gracious enough to allow said hired women to get home in time to make dinner. It's fairly evident that Governor LadyBinders thinks women need to be home in time to make dinner, and the workforce needs to accept that and adjust accordingly. I have an even better idea than that: How about the children and/or husband make their own freaking dinner? Oh, that’s right, only Mom has the secret pass code to the oven. I can just picture the next "women's rights" headline, most likely geared toward Romney chastising Yahoo because they didn’t let CEO Marissa Mayer off in time to make beef stew. “We need to change things. The president is just content to sit here and let husbands and children starve!”
In all seriousness, I understand what Romney was trying to say, but we all know he wouldn’t have said it about a man making it home for dinner. He had the best of intentions, and I truly think he does believe in womens' ability to be just as contributory in the workforce as men. We also all know he isn’t the only one to think the things he said. When Mayer was appointed CEO of the volatile Yahoo, she got flack from both sides of the spectrum. When she claimed she was only going to take a few weeks maternity leave, some women deemed that wasn’t enough. “She won’t bond! She might fail at breastfeeding! The child will resent her forever and become the next Gary Ridgway!” Others said her plans would undoubtedly change. “She is going to look into those eyes and want ten kids. Never mind the job she has wanted all her life; women are all the same!” I remember when I went back to a physical job four weeks after my C-section. Men were constantly trying to help me or do my job for me. Sure, some may call it chivalry, but where were they a year ago when I was hungover and trying to keep my burrito down? Fact is, I needed them more then. Deep down they were thinking I shouldn’t be there; society has taught them that a mother should be home with her baby. As long as we continue thinking that women need to get home in time for dinner (or any other household duty), women won’t get equal job opportunities or equal pay. Any company knows that hiring a man is much easier than adjusting their entire company for an individual woman’s schedule. When it comes down to it, women want equal pay for equal work, not equal pay to leave three hours earlier than their male counterparts. "We're going to replace retiring senior executive Joe Smith with a single mother of three who needs to be home by 4 o'clock every day," said no CEO to his board, ever.
Sometimes I do feel a pang of guilt knowing my toddler is running around the house breaking stuff and terrorizing the dog without me. Lucky for me, my husband is more than happy to watch him, and he truly doesn’t care about the looks he gets when he takes him to the park, grocery store, or doctor’s office. Women are constantly coming up to him and telling him “You are such a good dad!” I do the same things, and no one says that to me. (Maybe it’s because I suck, who knows). Nothing is going to change until we change the way we look at things. Women aren’t meant to be only mothers, and men aren’t meant to only work outside the home. And yes, this is an important issue, and yes, we will still have a country in ten years if Obama is elected. He was the one to recognize the truth: Women increasingly are the breadwinners in the family, and it will continue to trend that way in the years to come. It isn’t just a women’s issue; it’s a middle class issue, just as Obama said. And until we recognize that women are equal to men, women won’t receive equal wages as men. So everyone, pull out your Lady Binders and start hiring women. Just make sure they promise not to get pregnant. (Totally kidding. Just make them promise to take a short maternity leave if they do).
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