The article I have chosen for this blog discussion is, “Women, Money and Power” by, Liza Mundy, from Time Magazine, March 26, 2012. I first learned of this article listening to an interview of the author on Weekend Edition, on National Public Radio, March 18, 2012. Liza Bundy also has a forthcoming book titled: The Richer Sex , to be published by Simon and Schuster. I believe this article supports what we have studied in class this semester.
This article relates to our class studies in the areas: of feminist gains for working women, changing gender roles of men and women in regards to work, and the effects of this on their relationships. It starts out by mentioning the significant change in the roles of a Michigan family in just one generation. In the 1970’s the father of this family was the major bread winner and the mother stayed home with their six children. Today, in five of the six families of the siblings, the primary income is earned by the female. “Before 1970 the overwhelming majority of married women stopped working after they had children, today the overwhelming majority of married women do not” (Hess-Biber & Carter, 1999).
This reflects the influence of feminism to bring about these societal changes. The article states that with the advent of the birth control pill women were able to pursue their educational and career goals without the worry of an unplanned pregnancy, women today are almost 60% of college students, and some predictions project that in 25 years women will dominate law and medical professions (Mundy, 2012). This is a far cry from 1970 when a woman lawyer had to look for jobs in the “Help Wanted Male” section of the newspaper (Baumgardner & Richards, 2000). Even though more women are becoming the primary wage earners in their homes there is still an overall wage disparity between men and women. “Women working full time earn a median wage that is 81% of what men make” (Mundy, 2012). So for now, equal pay for equal work has not been totally realized.
This article brought up the change in gender roles that are occurring in families with the women being the primary wage earner. In our society men are “trained, tailored, and told” they are to be the provider of their family and this is an essential part of their identity (Mundy 2012). But it also points out that men are seeing a woman’s earning potential as a desirable trait in a partner, and housekeeping skills as being less valuable (Mundy 2012). “One way of choosing people for the different tasks of society is on the basis of their talents, motivations and competence –their demonstrated achievements” (Lorber, 1994). Economic trends trump culture, and the practical will prevail with men accepting their new roles, and personal aptitude and what works best for a family will be how decisions are based and not outdated gender roles (Mundy 2012).
In fact, one very interesting topic that is covered in this article that we have not read as much about in our class is the gender changes for women who are becoming the primary wage earners. “Up until now, feminists have argued that breadwinning – for men – should carry no special privilege, that male earners were wrong to think that their pay check bought them out of sorting socks. Now women are having to ask what privileges, if any, their own breadwinning buys” (Mundy, 2012). Some women interviewed for this article expressed conflicted feelings about their stay-at-home husbands spending “their” money and having a hard time seeing the earnings as not entirely their own (Mundy 2012). There was also some resentment to deal with when the children were home bonding with dad, instead of mom who is at work (Mundy 2012). We as human beings have tendencies toward resisting change and being self-centered in our approach to life. So these are issues that will evolve and be resolved over time as men and women become more equal in the work place and the family.
References
Mundy, L. “Women, Money and Power.” Time Magazine. (28-34). March 26, 2012.
Hesse-Biber, S. & Carter, G.L. “A Brief History of Working Women.” In, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions. (425). 2012.
Baumgardner, J. & Richards, A. “A Day Without Feminism.” In, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions. (30). 2012.
Lorber, Judith. “The Social Construction of Gender.” In, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions. (127). 2012.
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