The Feminist Valuing the Devalued Process
created by:
Alexis Frank, Shaheli Guha, Hitomi Yoneya
Comparable Worth
Like every other aspect of life, jobs in the paid labor market are strongly gendered. Some fields like nursing, paid housework, and teaching young children were traditionally dominated by women, while other paid jobs were open to men only. Jobs that considered traditionally feminine utilized skills like caring and empathizing. Traditionally masculine jobs employed skills of leadership, physical labor, and logical reasoning. Equal Opportunity Feminists have been successful in breaking some of the job-related stereotypes for women; however, many job categories are still deeply gendered.
Traditionally feminine jobs pay significantly less than traditionally masculine jobs. Comparable worth seeks to remedy this discrimination in wages. Under comparable worth, wages are equalized in jobs that require similar skills, education, and experiences regardless of the gender predominance of the profession. Moreover, comparable worth seeks to base wages on the value of a given profession to the employer and to society. Advocates of comparable worth often point out instances where teachers are paid less landscapers, or nurses are paid less than electricians. They seek to value the devalued traditionally feminine skills that produce caring work by creating a wage that reflects the value of the work, rather than prejudice against it.
Proponents of comparable worth feel monetarily revaluing traditionally feminine skills can close the wage gap between men and women. Critics believe that comparable worth will make the economy inefficient because supply and demand within an industry will not be used to calculate wages. Some argue under comparable worth employers will be more reluctant to hire women.
Resources
- Paul, Ellen. Equity and Gender 1989.
- Treiman, Donald, and Heidi Hartmann, eds. Women, Work and Wages: Equal
- Pay for Jobs of Equal Value . 1981.
- U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Comparable Worth: Issue for the 80s, vol. 1 . June 1984.
