Hi Gugu,
Maybe you did not throw around the 78%, but it was the main result of the first (American) reference you provided.
I didn't provide the Excel sheet to propose an average (and I know you're not saying I did). I only provided it because it allows a person (who thinks wage gaps don't exist) to compare male-to-female earnings in specific occupations and in a specific situation: full-time status over
one year. Say, "legislator" where there's a 10% wage gap. This isn't 30% - it's not a huge number, but
it's still there and it shouldn't be there and I don't understand
why it's there in this specific occupation considering the public is paying for this salary (there is no wage gap in that occupation on this side of the border). Financial managers: why is there a 36% gap? Aerospace engineer: 11%. Civil engineer: 12%.
Lawyer: 21%.
Physicians and surgeons: 31%.
CEO: 34%. This last wage gap is just mind boggling to me. Don't tell me a female CEO is like any other female worker and isn't just as organizational efficiency and effectiveness minded as any male counterpart. She got
voted into the job - because she was the best candidate, according to her mainly male BoD peers, for the job. Women who place family before being cutthroat decision-makers simply do not get voted into this job.
I understand your frustration when you ear the sentence wage gap is a myth, because numbers seem so obvious in so many ways we look at them. So we tend to conclude at first hand that there is obviously gender discrimination. But we have to take into account that discrimination is illegal, so we try to find the explanatory factors (and you do) It’s a very complicated.
Many things are illegal but illegal things still occur. It's illegal for someone who owns an apartment building to refuse a prospective tenant because she has children. Just this week-end, I was talking to my new neighbour, who has a child, and who told me about the trouble she went through to get an apartment (which would have been the same pain in the ass had she been a single father). She was outright told that she wouldn't get the apartment
because of the child. She had recourses in this situation, but seriously, when you're looking for an apartment and you have a kid to house, are you really going to use those recourses that may take years to yield results? No. You move on. This is not the same situation as salary inequalities. But what you have to keep in mind is that salaries are not routinely disclosed between employees (and many employers strongly discourage the practice even if it is legal). So how can you even know if you're being stiffed? As you noted yourself, the data I provided, while interesting, do not show the full picture and it's really hard to get the full picture unless you have actual people in identical occupations with identical responsibilities to interview. However, in light of the wealth of data I've presented,
I am far from sure that women earning less for identical work is a myth, especially considering that every source, even the most right-leaning think-tank, Fraser, concludes that there
is a wage gap (
Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Ontario, 2015, p.12). I am
not satisfied that this wage gap is not a result of historical wage inequities. See it as the tail of Katrina that causes a bad storm once it reaches Quebec. I have
not seen convincing evidence that the wage gap is related to anything
other than our effort at "catching up" not quite having reached its objective.
[Can I say that I have NO IDEA how I got into this conversation? The least of my worries as someone who is seen as a feminist by friends but doesn't really perceive herself as a feminist (except on this site :smile: ) is pay equity. Canada has made huge strides in that department (e.g.
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act) and I am satisfied by this country's relatively recent realization that female civil service workers were being paid less than their male counterparts for the same job has been addressed at the federal level. I don't expect the
overall wage gap to narrow because, as it's been mentioned, I understand that women
do self-select into lower paying positions. Hence, I am not at all convinced by the glass ceiling argument (and I haven't personally experienced it). But I will not be convinced by arguments that male-female pay equity
for the same work is a fact until someone shows me
facts.]
You are dead wrong in supposing that discussing the evidence is dictated by the will to undermine women.
I never said that. I was referring to a specific situation where "discussing" might not be the right qualifier for the nature of that conversation. Me: "stats". Other individual: "myth". I don't call that a discussion.
I also find it odd that you explain the feminazy attitude by men’s annoying attitudes.
Not men's annoying attitude - (some troll) men's systemic denial that there remain
any systemic male-female inequalities in this society. The fact that a male ex-minister still, in 2015, thinks it's ok to say to a journalist "you seem to have fattened, dear", is only one illustration that there is
still a male mentality out there that thinks it's ok to turn the conversation to women's appearance (or irrational feelings, like when they decide to become independent representatives) when they are put on the spot by females. Let us assume this mentality is limited to retirement-aged men and is not representative of the younger generations (I wouldn't be sure about that reading this site!). Again, I will say I have not personally ever felt like my male counterparts felt I was "just a woman" (i.e. less xyz than men). Then again, I also have my personality. I will not be talked down to by a male. I have experience sexual harassment in every field of work where men work, however. The Gomeshi incident, for me, was just a tangible example of how organizational culture works, and does indeed tend to reward males that act "as males" as opposed to taking females' complaints seriously, to the point that there is no organization that I've worked in where there wasn't a sub-female-culture that warns females of potential male predators. Upon questioning female friends,
none ever
didn't experience sexual harassment in some workplace. Why is it so complicated to keep one's libido in check? This is but one (other) gendered issue that also consistently gets derided (especially by males-trolls in media outlet comment sections) as myth.
Legal rights are not a factor ? Come on! Some feminist like Christina Hoff are saying American feminists would be more useful in supporting women in third world countries if they want to produce significant results, you know, like improving legal rights and systematic social discrimination.
What was said was that
women in Canada have more legal rights than Canadian males. The rights gap between Canadian and Congolese women was not the subject. If you want to discuss my feelings on the state of female rights outside this country, even in such 'advanced countries' as the States, expect a far longer chapter than this post
I understand the discrepancy you sense between defending decrim and some attitudes shown towards women by some members of MERB. First of all, very very few member take part in the decrim discussions. I have met some. They are among the most respectful towards women people I’ve met. I have no doubt others I have not met, like Reverdy, Patron, CapRenault are also very respectful of women in general.
100% agree. I don't know them either, but as I suggested earlier, I've met tons of these men and can corroborate your assertion as fact.
Access is not an issue. Security is, both for providers and buyers.
Disagree with this, but I'm biased. I don't think security is an issue for buyers. If buyers feel it's too hot in the kitchen, they don't have to eat there. If women feel the same way, many of them only have McDonald's or other minimum wage to turn to. I think that while we can agree or disagree over the level of female victimization in Canada in the sex trade, we can at least agree that in the aggregate, a much larger proportion of sex trade workers do not have marketable, education/training-based skills that will allow them to make similar or close-to-similar earnings (screw hourly wages - lets talk yearly earnings) as they currently make. Women should not have to meet a bad client and wonder if reporting the incident might land them in more shit. (We're told with the new laws this shouldn't happen, but the new laws also seriously limit their client pool. Same old, same old. "Bad job, girl" - essentially.)
I also understand your feelings about objectification. But this is sex work. There is objectification by definition. Men, and women’s fantasies are in part objectifying. Sex is by definition objectifying. My impression (but I may be wrong), is that sp’s do not hate being rated, including physically, per se as much as they hate to be compared.
Hey, I'm not the one saying escorts should be respected and turn around and describe them as a slab of meat. I also disagree that sex is somehow defined in relation to objectification, but that's my view on sex. I also agree that women hate to be compared, but I can assure you, probably having more sex-worker friends than the average member here (exclusively indies, admittedly), that none of us enjoy being graded like a cut of steak. We tolerate it because it's the name of the game. We don't feel respected by it. If you want our honesty, there it is.
I don’t know much about agencies earning, a bit more about parlours earnings.
I don't know about the parlour world. I stand by my point that (large) agency owners earn a far greater income a year than the escorts that work for them and that these higher earnings, unlike escorts', do not reflect any especially special working conditions. Working long hours? Booking? Driving? Overhead costs: websites, advertising, gas, etc.? Show me a small business owner (even with 20 girls, agents still qualify as small business owners - assuming they declared their earnings
) who doesn't invest as much time or resources in his or her work and makes only a small percentage of what escort agents make.
Big bucks for what additional stress/work/investment, exactly?
[This is where my "feminism" should come out loud and clear. No man should ever make a higher earning from the sale of services only providable by women
than women.]
Anyway, it’s a pleasure exchanging with you. SOrry for the terrible english I impose on you. Your french is much better.
Your English is perfect and the feeling is mutual.