I disagree. In Sweden, at least, it is my opinion that there are more things in society that are disadvantages to men rather to women. Still however, people who vouch for sexist laws as this one always seem to see women as victims.
I personally believe that this is just a part of their ideology. The idea of a patriarchy is a fixed idea which will never change no matter how much legislation that gets pushed.
I will never support such an ideology and I will probably not really respect quota hires since they are just that. They are not hired because they seemed best for the position, just to appease to some social justice laws or beliefs.
Depends on where you are. Not all of these apply everywhere, but:
- lack of maternity leave
- being judged on personal appearance even in office settings because your appearance is more tied to your worth than it is for men
- when you are harsh as a boss, labelled "bossy" as a negative. I don't hear many men labelled "bossy".
- be chided about "being on your period" in case you say something people don't like
- people confusing you for secretary / non-technical role because you are not man
- people talking about things which may be sensitive to women in the workplace moreso than men and make them uncomfortable / unable to participate (for example, porn, I have seen this in my office)
- after-hours fraternizing at the bar or on the golf course (or other largely men's activity, it's never going to the salon, for example).
- harrassment / dating propositions (imo, it's not okay either way but obviously more likely for men to do to women in office than the other way around)
- late-night meetings, frequent expectation for workers to come in late and stay late (if women mostly take responsibilities of children at home, this affects them more).
- less pay because rather than keeping pays equal, companies only offer raises to those who ask
Surely there are others. Perhaps some of these seem innocuous to you, but altogether they are potent.
Tangential: I heard a wild, but interesting argument the other day about how allowing different maternity leave between men and women, ceteris paribus, would lead to gender discrimination when hiring. The reasoning was: regardless of the reason being "fair", companies would see women as having a higher chance of taking more leave than men, and thus have less value, overall.
It was an interesting argument for prohibiting differences between paternity and maternity leave, i.o.w.: you must give new fathers as much time off as you give new mothers, no more, no less.
It sounded nice so I never researched whether it was experimentally confirmed / disproven :)
I kind of like Dr. Peteron's view on these kind of questions, try flipping them around. Don't ask "Why do women earn less?" Try framing it as "What are the reasons men earn more?" Another one, "Why is it that there are so few women in high level management positions?" frame it as "Why are there so much men willing to put up with the stress and pressure of high level management positions?"
There are a lot of reasons for the inequality between men and women. I'm not saying they are "justified" or "fair" but there are some obvious (painful, even) but true reasons why men and women don't earn the same. Of course, these reasons do not specify the whole margin but they explain quite some of the variation.
> "Why is it that there are so few women in high level management positions?" frame it as "Why are there so much men willing to put up with the stress and pressure of high level management positions?"
What does it change if the answer is "It is easier for men because they have to put up with less harassment, less pressure and are more encouraged"?
>"Why is it that there are so few women in high level management positions?" frame it as "Why are there so much men willing to put up with the stress and pressure of high level management positions?"
Except this "framing" implicitly introduces the assumption that gendered differences in stress and pressure tolerance is the cause.
Income inequality?
Does risk of dying on the job count as something worth higher pay?
If so, then I think you should reconsider the mantra of "wage gap".
Note: this is just the first hit on google, I'm a bit reluctant to write down an entire arguement here because you have very like already made up your mind...
But you are describing "sexist outcomes" which isn't the same sense of the word. It alludes to a sexist mechanism only - whereas the board quotas are the sexist mechanism.
"Income inequality" Has been discussed plenty of time, so I'm not going to reproduce it here. In any case, there is plenty of dispute on whether it is the result of "sexism".
"domestic workload" is something society does criticise, but in any case it is a social convention only - not enforced by law.
I personally believe that this is just a part of their ideology. The idea of a patriarchy is a fixed idea which will never change no matter how much legislation that gets pushed.
I will never support such an ideology and I will probably not really respect quota hires since they are just that. They are not hired because they seemed best for the position, just to appease to some social justice laws or beliefs.