Women outperform men in school, but still earn less

Canadian women do far better than men when it comes to school, but in the year 2010 we STILL lag way behind men in terms of salary.

Findings from Education Indicators in Canada show that when compared to 30 other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Canadian women make about 63% of the salary of a similarly educated man. That's only up slightly from 61% in 1998.

Women are earning less than men despite that fact that women achieve better academic results than men at all levels. High school girls graduate at a rate of 8% higher than boys. In college that number jumps to 11%. When it comes to university degrees, women graduate at a staggering rate of 18% higher than men.

How come we’re better educated than men and still making way less money? It may be due to a number of reasons:

(a) Canada is actually quite a ‘traditional’ country when it comes to child rearing. Women are still mainly responsible for childcare and place more importance on family than men, causing them to work fewer hours or part-time. Statistics Canada figures from July show that more than twice as many women as men work part-time jobs in Canada.

(b) Women still face biases in the workplace. A study by Catalyst shows that women with MBA’s from top business schools around the world earn an average of $4,500 less as a starting salary than men with the same credentials. Women are also less likely to move into leadership roles than men.

(c) Perhaps companies are willing to pay men more than they are women. Or perhaps women are willing to work for less. I remember reading in Naomi Wolf’s book The Beauty Myth that too many women don’t believe they’re “worth it” and will settle for lower wages. Maybe men are more likely to ask for a raise, or more driven to be financially successful.

None of this really comes as news to me, because studies have continuously shown that women make far less than similarly educated men. But there’s definitely a part of me that thinks, “Really? Come on! It’s 2010 people!” Although I believe that much of this inequality is caused by patriarchal norms that are embedded in society, along with a long-standing belief that men just deserve more, I do think that women themselves need to be more demanding, more confident and more sure of what they're worth.

Source: Women at work: still behind on the bottom line - The Globe & Mail

Is it sexist to ogle male athletes?

With the Fifa World Cup on right now, women all over the globe are being treated to some seriously soccerific eye candy. Yeah, that's right, I called the athletes "eye candy." Let's be honest, those soccer playes are HAWT, and I have definitely enjoyed watching the games on two levels: for the sport and for the hotties. But this begs the question, is it sexist to ogle the soccer players?

One of my favourite blogs, Jezebel, has been posting "Abs of the Day" and "Thighlights" featuring the hottest abs and thighs from the day's matches. Naturally, I quite enjoy these blog posts and their accompanying photos, but I've noticed a trend among the comments. Many people are saying things like, "When articles or blog posts are written about female athletes looking good with their hot butts or nice tits, you get up in arms! So why are you doing that to the male athletes?" Others have accused the bloggers of shameless objectification and degrading the male athletes.

This got me thinking about the difference between sexually objectifying athletes and just enjoying their beauty. I personally feel that it is NOT sexist to ogle the male soccer players, and here are my reasons:

1. I don’t watch the game for the hotties
I enjoy watching soccer - I don't just watch it just to ogle men. Not only do I enjoy watching it, but I played it for 10 years. I understand the game and would watch it whether it was played by men or women no matter what their appearance.
Now take certain women’s sports that are aired on TV, such as beach volleyball. The women’s outfits (which are skimpy bikinis) are strictly regulated by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, and are kept skimpy in order to attract more male viewers to the sport.

2. I don't value the player’s looks over their athletic ability.
Although it may sound like I'm gaga over these soccer players, the fact is that I'm not watching Fifa World Cup for the "eye candy." It's just a nice bonus. I wouldn't watch any old crap on TV just cos it featured hot men. You can put all the hot men in the world in Speedos and make them play cricket and I wouldn't watch that, cos cricket is pretty much the most boring game in the world.

3. Their hot bodies are HEALTHY hot bodies
There is a difference between enjoying an athlete's body who has worked hard and is at the top of their game, and gawking at female models who are likely to have been photoshopped, have an eating disorder, altered their body through plastic surgery or other non-natural procedures, etc. Also, the soccer players are out there having fun doing what they love. They’re not being posed in unnatural positions, made to squeeze their breasts together, cup their breasts, stick their booties in the camera, make a ‘sex face’, tousle their hair around, make out with another person of the same-sex, or do any of that crap that we constantly see female models being subjected to.

4. Guess what? Women like to gawk too.
Why does nobody even question the fact that (straight) men love to stare at tits, ass, legs… all parts of women’s bodies. But when women stare at men, people don’t accept that so easily. Enough of the double standards! Let me enjoy these skilled athletes in all their glory…

Jezebel also has a similar post on this topic… check it out.

My Struggle for Housework Equality

I am a feminist and my partner of 7 years is a pro-feminist guy. From the outside we appear like a very modern-day equality-for-all type of couple. And in many ways we are… except for one: household chores.

In chatting with my other feminist friends who are shacked-up with guys, I’ve noticed a definite trend around housework. After first moving in together, the men are keen to help out and put in the effort to get chores done. But after a few months, the honeymoon period ends and the men slide into a more relaxed attitude about housework. My guy and I have been living together for 3.5 years now, and there’s no doubt about it: I am doing the majority of household chores. I can’t help but think, “I’m a feminist… how did I let this happen?!”

In the book When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present authour Gail Collins reports on some interesting studies about the time we spend on housework. Apparently, couples who truly split chores 50/50 are extremely rare, even in homes where both adults work full time. Study after study shows that any way you measure it, women do about twice as much housework as men. It doesn’t matter if you’re working class, middle class, upper class, or the colour of your skin, the ratio remains 2:1. When child care is added to the mix, things become even more lopsided. In families with both parents working, women spend an average of 11 hours a week on childcare, while men spend three. The only households that seem to arrive at equitable divisions of labour more naturally are lesbian couples.

Lisa Belkin, a columnist for the New York Times who wrote on this topic, said she met a few couples who were seriously trying to divide household chores evenly, and it seemed like a tortuous process full of lists, negotiations and struggles on the part of the woman to get the man to understand her higher standards for cleanliness. I can completely understand this; I have tried a hundred different ways to get my partner to do more chores. We have tried everything from a white board where we list tasks to “scheduling” blocks of time into his iPhone calendar for him to do chores. So far, nothing has been very successful. The interesting thing is that he sincerely wants the housework to be divided 50/50, but that's never what happens.

What irks me the most is that I spend a lot of my personal free time doing things for “us” like grocery shopping, tidying the house and organizing our finances. When he has free time, he spends it doing things for himself like surfing the net, playing online games or going fishing. It definitely creates resentment in me, which I occasionally release by screaming at him. And so begins the cycle of the woman nagging, the man getting annoyed, the man not doing the chores, the woman getting even more resentful, the woman nagging again… and on and on it goes.

So what’s a modern day feminist to do? Why are all my straight feminist friends and I in the exact same situation? Should we lower our cleanliness standards, or should the men pick up their game? Thoughts, ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome!

Calgary Sun’s Sexist Olympic Coverage

Why do we admire our Olympic athletes? Perhaps because of their dedication to their sport, their unwavering desire to push themselves further and become the best. And according to the Calgary Sun, we also admire the female athletes for lookin’ so darn good.

On February 17th the Calgary Sun published an article by Rob Longley about Lindsey Vonn, the American gold medallist in women’s downhill alpine skiing. The article, titled “Sitting Pretty” is all about what a “babe” this athlete is.

The article’s subtitle reads, “With her good looks and incredible talent, U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn commands plenty of attention.” The opening sentence of the article states that, “When she arrived here injured, the American media breathlessly predicted all eyes will be on [her] right shin. Just guessing, but the rest of her anatomy might get a little attention too.” Longley then goes on to call her “the babe of the Games,” and when listing her talents “in no particular order,” guess which attribute is listed first? Her good looks and a recommendation to check her out in the current Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Furthermore, next to this article is a side-bar with the headline “Lookin’ good” which lists the other female Olympian hotties. The side-bar states that “Lindsey Vonn isn’t the only female Olympian lauded for her looks as much as her athleticism. Here’s a few of the others competing in Vancouver that are easy on the eyes.” The list includes Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth, who competed in the skeleton event.

The media focusing on the physical appearance these women is a serious problem for professional female athletes. So often our female athletes are judged not only on their athletic talent, but on their looks and home life too. In some extreme cases such as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in America, the team actually has a beauty consultant on staff to help the women dress and look sexy.

Yesterday while watching the women’s skeleton event, the announcers were continually discussing which of the athletes are mothers and how old their kids are. Why are the children of female athletes often discussed, while the children of male athletes are almost never mentioned? No one ever says “Well, here’s the father of two, Jarome Iginla! He’s got two little ones at home, aged four and six.” Nobody talks about the home life of male athletes - and they certainly don’t comment on their physical appearance!

This is just another example of the double standards in our society. Women can rarely be appreciated just for their talents – their appearance and family life are always scrutinized as well.

Tonight's Show: Masculinity, Fight Club and American Psycho

Tonight we interview Paul Kennett - a fellow CJSW programmer - who wrote his Master's thesis on issues of masculinity, with a particular focus on two novels: Fight Club and American Psycho.

It's not that often that we discuss masculinity on Yeah, What She Said, but it is an important part of gender studies. Please join us for this interview - it's going to be a good one!

Tune in tonight from 8:30 to 9:00pm on CJSW 90.9 fm. You can listen from anywhere in the world at cjsw.com. And don't forget that you can always download our podcast if you miss the live show!

My Thoughts on Adam Lambert and Bullshit Double Standards

So, remember when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed at the 2003 MTV awards, and everyone was so freekin' excited about it? Well apparently that doesn't go over so well when it's two men kissing. Adam Lambert (American Idol runner up and openly gay singer) recently pulled a "Madonna and Britney," and received some pretty negative feedback.

Lambert was singing his new song "For Your Entertainment" at the American Music Awards when he kissed a male keyboardist, fondled a dancer and had another dancer briefly stuff his face in Lambert's crotch.

Lambert's actions prompted many complaints to ABC, who then canceled his TV appearance on Good Morning America.

Why are Britney and Madonna allowed - even encouraged - to get away with a very public make-out session, while it's completely unacceptable for two men to do the same thing? Why are homosexual acts between two beautiful women applauded, while homosexual acts between two men are shunned? Double standards surrounding homosexuality are really starting to get on my nerves. You know we live in a fucked up society when we're more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than two men holding hands.

So what did Lambert have to say about all this? "Obviously, I respect [ABC's] decision — they gotta do what they gotta do... It's too bad, I think there were a lot of fans who were excited to come see me. [ABC] probably had a lot of pressure coming at them from certain people who weren't happy about it."

He goes on to comment that "there are a lot of double standards as far as that goes... We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number."

All I have to say about this is... You Go, Adam! Own your sexuality and BRING IT! If America ain't ready to handle a gay man spreading some love... fuck 'em.

Young Men Give Props to Women

This is a beautiful and touching "Slam Poem" that gave me chills. These young men were National Youth Poetry Slam finalists in 2005 with this piece.

My favourite line? "If you don't believe in abortion, don't get one, you asshole. And don't you ever call my women murderers for wanting control over their bodies. Besides, our current welfare system couldn't feed a family for a weekend."

Props to these talented, intelligent young men.

Dad Sells Daughter for Meat, Beer & Cash

A California man is accused of selling his 14-year-old daughter into a marriage with an 18-year-old man for 100 crates of beer, several cases of meat and $16,000. The father has pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment.

Marcelino de Jesus Martinez had pleaded not guilty in February to procuring a child for lewd acts, aiding and abetting statutory rape and child endangerment. If convicted of those charges he faced 10 years in prison.

Read the full story here.

Afghan Women Losing More Rights

The CBC reports that the Afghan government recently announced new laws that further strip women of their rights and give increasing control to men.

Various reports say the legislation would make it illegal for Shia women to refuse their husbands sex, leave the house without their permission or have custody of children.

..."How can we say that our soldiers are there to protect women's rights when the Western-backed leader of this nation pushes through laws like this?" said NDP MP Dawn Black.

"Allowing women to be treated like a piece of property … is this what we're fighting for? Is this what our people are dying for in Afghanistan?"

Read the full article here, or watch the CBC video below.

The Male Privilege Checklist

Check out the 'Male Privilege Checklist' from Alas, A Blog!

Some of my faves from the list are noted below. I also think it's important to mention that the ladies of Yeah, What She Said are not posting this to slam men or anything like that - we love men and realize that the vast majority of men are not cool with sexism and other forms of oppression. However, it's important that all people in positions of privilege (men, Caucasians, etc.) should be aware of their privilege.

Some of my faves from the Male Privilege Checklist:

• If I fail in my job or career, I can feel sure this won’t be seen as a black mark against my entire sex’s capabilities.
• If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.
• If I seek political office, my relationship with my children, or who I hire to take care of them, will probably not be scrutinized by the press.
• I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.