Significance of Rape

Rape can be broadly defined as sex without consent but it is understood as a crime of aggression because the focus is on hurting and dominating. There are many types and factors that influence this horrendous act. Rape has been a consistent problem for women over the years. Statistics show that with one in three to one in four women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. It is sad to say that seven out of ten women reported to have known their offender whether it was a relative, friend or someone that they just were acquainted with. Less than 5% of sexually assaulted women reported what happened to them. Women tend to not report the sexual assault because they are afraid, they feel ashamed or that no one will believe them. Women fail to realize that if they do not tell nothing will be done about the situation and the person that did this to them is still out there possibly repeating the offense or attacking other women. Even a form of acquaintance rape is women being raped by their own husbands. In 1993 marital rape became a crime in all 50 states, but why would rape in any case married or unmarried not be a crime? Other common factors found especially on college campuses are alcohol, and drugs, including the date rape drug. Women need to know the significance of rape and the scars that they leave on them, we as a society need to make women feel comfortable enough to come forward if they are violated in any such way. Hopefully legislation implemented will prevent the increased rates such as in 1993, and allow for us to have healthy sexual relationships.

Women's Influence in Poker

One of my favorite hobbies to do is play poker, more specifically No Limit Texas Hold’em. I am an avid fan and watch as many circuit events from the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker. One thing I have quickly come up on was the incredible amount of critical thinking and social skills it takes to play the game. You need to be thinking constantly whether that be calculating pot odds, win odds, or reading your opponent, it is definitely more complicated than the two cards sitting in front of you. Being an avid fan and from what I have learned in this class I have realized the characteristics to be a successful poker player that I just listed are qualities best found in women, rather than men. What has confused me about this is that there are drastically fewer women that play professionally than men, but also the success of those women isn’t as great as those of men. Kathy Liebert is regarded as one of the best female poker players in the world; she capitalizes on these skills I mentioned earlier, she has won nearly six million dollars in live events. Comparing her to someone of the same age, who has had the same amount of tournaments under their belt in Daniel Negreanu the comparisons isn’t fair. Daniel has won many more tournaments and a lot more money, to be precisely correct he has won over fifteen million dollars in live tournaments. So why are men beating women at their own game? Is it because in the early 1950s poker was illegal and made the people that played look like gangsters? Or are men simply underrated in their social and critical thinking skills? I hope more women are able to join the poker boom so we are able to solve this argument on a level field.

The Perception of Women in Media

Media in our world now portray women as sex objects. Front covers usually have a woman showing as much skin as possible and showing tall, thin women. This gives a certain image to women on how all women “should” be. Television shows use women as the source to their jokes such as Marge Simpson from The Simpsons, or Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. Marge is a typical traditionally characterized housewife, and when she does try and go out for a job it is a huge joke, where things go wrong and she ends up back to where she was. Liz Lemon is a producer for a television network who is constantly harassed by her boss Jack Donaghy. Lemon is different in the fact that she is able to pursue her goals and dreams but like all of these media representations she is looked at as an object. The front cover featuring a model, Marge Simpson, and Liz Lemon are all being held back by stereotypical men who believe in traditional ideas, when you mix these with the perceptions the media is giving off women viewers are in very troubled waters. They see these episodes and realize they need to be that certain way, or that since they area woman they are unlikely to make more than men and are going to be treated unfairly, so why even try to pursue a higher education. I feel that personally the media is the primary cause of all the issues we have in the world, that they instill these ideas into us everyday, everywhere we go. I am not saying we need to stop watching these programs or magazines we just need to take them less literally and realize that we shouldn’t put ourselves under those same circumstances.

News Article:
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2010/04/08/leslie-knope-liz-lemon-and-the-feminist-lessons-of-nbc-s-parks-and-recreation.html

Marriage and Family

Many people have a variety of opinions when it comes to marriage and family. For me personally I definitely will be like most people where I will practice a monogamous relationship with my wife. I believe that family is the direct level of social unity among the people associated within it, where we are able to learn and share ideas of love, belief, and experience. I do not believe that one individual should run the house, or “wear the pants”, I believe that when you are married it is a partnership that has to be looked at in equal amounts of power and work. I feel that my job will be more of a priority in my relationship with my wife and for the family just because it is very inflexible as far as moving and the financial burdens that would be involved in the process. I am not saying my wife can’t have an education or a job for that matter I just feel like when it comes to raising kids and taking time off, with the amount of money I have invested into my education to get the benefits of a higher salary, that my wife will be the one to take on that role. If for some reason my wife is making more than me, than I would greatly accept that role in the family, because I feel that the work done at home that isn’t compensated with money is equally important as the work that is compensated. My mother was a stay at home mom and my dad was a doctor, seeing both of them do their daily routines I would say it is very close in displeasure and stress. My mom watched three obnoxious little boys and took care of the house work, while my dad took the responsibility of running his own practice. Being able to be apart of both of these schedules has made me appreciate each side more and understand the sacrifices that need to be made in a relationship even better.

Women and Plastic Surgery

People in general are afraid of aging and the physical characteristics that it brings with it, while women are now dreading age fifty instead of forty there are a few reasons for this adjustment. One of the most rapid growing fads to solve this problem in the United States is Plastic surgery; this fad is primarily dominated by women seeking perfection. There are a variety of reasons why women are seeking out surgery, whether it is hoping for better sex lives, or just improving their life in general. While past issues have been directly related to weight, that is no longer the issue. Women have figured that they need every little detail on their body perfected so they can get Catherine Zeta-Jones’ face, or Jennifer Lopez’s butt. However what the clients don’t understand is that we are all born with a frame and if we lose too much weight or try to alter it in anyway, we are going against this natural look designed specifically for us. As a consequence certain surgeries or dieting can make people look abnormal even if they think they are getting that little perfection. Gill Todd a nurse specialist said “The message women get is that we need all our bones showing, and we need to be thin, so only then can we be happy and successful.” I feel terrible when I hear this because it is unfortunately very true with our society, and many people have to go through these surgeries only to find out that their lives aren’t any better than before. I think plastic surgery is good to a certain extent, if you have something that is preventing you from living a normal life and you would be better off getting plastic surgery then I am all for it, however if you are just doing it simply to get a better cup size or a smaller nose then I feel like you are going against what God gave you. I do believe that this will become a very big issue with women in the future because celebrities are getting operations done all the time, but like anything we do surgery has consequences, I just hope we are able to get this problem under control before women have to face them.

The End of Men

The traditional idea of women has slowed down drastically in recent years into a more modern belief. For our required readings this week we were able to see two classic viewpoints on what the future holds for both men and women. Hanna Rosin’s main argument is that men will not be as successful as women in the future, and that the world will be better run with the characteristics of a woman, while men may choose to change but it will not affect the outcome of the future. Where for the first time in human history we have started changing from the industrialized economy that requires strength and toughness to a more technology based economy that allows for critical thinking skills to reign supreme. Men just occupy two of the fifteen job categories selected to grow most rapidly in the future, while they are still leading in crime and poverty. While Ann Friedman does agree that the future economy does favor the characteristics of females, she also believes that men are essential to the growth and leadership of society in the future. Therefore saying that men just cant be ignored when it comes to the lack of certain traits, that men need to change otherwise they will not only fail for themselves but their families as well. If fathers took more time to be nurturing instead of macho, not thinking about being the bread winner as much we would have less cases of poverty, crime, rape, etc. This is because they will have a role model that will make sure they stay out of trouble and go get an education. I believe Friedman’s theory and I hope that men are able to change because it would be a shame if we weren’t able to if not for ourselves then for our families.

Eating Disorders

A serious issue especially here in the United States is the idea of eating disorders. These terrible habits consist of anything from Anorexia Nervosa to Bulimia Nervosa to Binge Eating. Found most commonly in women trying to get to the ideal body size nearly ten million women and girls suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia in the United States alone. Possibly even more shocking is the amount of men also involved in these terrible habits, nearly one million men and boys suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia in the United States. Many consequences exist because of these practices including Osteoporosis, Electrolyte imbalances, low heart beat, distorted thinking, abdominal pain, hypertension, diabetes, as well as cardiac arrest and death. These are not consequences that should be reached, if someone is experiencing the urge to use these tactics then they should seek help. Even young children are being affected by these horrible practices nearly 81% of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. I think that this is an awful stat and we need to be more aware of children and what they are watching and doing because a little 10 year old girl or boy should not be worrying about their appearance to this extent.
I feel that this is an extremely serious issue, that parents, friends, and family all need to be looking out for because the victims of these terrible addictions are too afraid to seek help because they feel that they need their image to be similar to what the media portrays as the best looking person. Women who do practice these tactics are twelve times more likely to die than women of the same age, when I first heard that statistic I could not believe it. To think that women are putting that much pressure on themselves to be skinny is just heartbreaking because it should not matter what the media perceives as the perfect person. I hope in my generation we are able to get a handle on this but with the way the media is currently I feel that there is a large fight left in the future.

Women and Pornography

A major issue in todays society is pornography for both male and female users and the consequences they bring. Users start when they are young by avoiding the parental controls set up by their parents, deleting the history and cookies on the computer so that there is no trace. However this has led to drastic increases of addiction for pornography. Over recent years the percentage of women looking and actively using pornography has skyrocketed, using it as a release to get a quick fix on their stressful lives. This only increases the terrible image given to women from pornography. Guys experiment while they are in their teens and unfortunately some become hooked, letting it get into the middle of their priorities in life. Doctors say that this release of dopamine-oxytocin produces a high similar to heroin, people feel relaxed and powerful which they most likely aren’t feeling in their current life situation.
However pornography not only complicates what is happening now but also in the future, with relationship issues and complications during sex. This release may feel great for the few minutes of pleasure you receive, however when you come back to reality it only makes things worse because you are expecting to have all your stresses and problems eliminated, when this really isn’t true. Not only this but the loneliness and depression that occurs as a constant effect of increased pornography use causes people to have medical conditions such as ulcers, as well as the possibility of contemplating suicide. I feel pornography is a serious issue and one that will only worsen with our media perceptions. I hope that anyone who has an issue or knows someone who does can go seek help either on the internet or to a doctor because it is a serious issue and isn’t the way to go about solving the problems in life.

Women in the Military

For years women have been in the military but serving with common feminine jobs such as nurses. In the later years up to today, these roles have changed and gave women almost equal opportunity to serve as men. There are only few areas in the military that do not permit women such as some areas of ground battle. Some women do choose their military job in ground battle but only few areas actually have the slots open for women.
Women in the military is a wonderful thing and equal opportunity should be a choice of the woman not the choice made for her because the job might be “too stressful” for a woman to handle. If indeed a woman requests to choose a stressful job, she will be fully prepared and equipped for her duties. The military should not put restrictions on women because not all women are the same and can handle situations differently.
The other issue for women in the military is family life and starting to have a family while in the military. People worry how having children will then affect a woman’s mind frame when it comes time to have to leave her family and possibly leave her new born child in result of her job. This often puts women in a stressful position creating more problems for her in job and when she comes home. Women who do not choose an area with combat tend to move up in ranks and become very successful in their career in the military. I feel this issue has gotten alot less severe over recent years and that women should have equal opportunities as men, especially in the military. Who is to say that one gender can protect and save the country while the other cant, to me that just isn't right.

Women and Religion

Religion is a sensitive issue particularly when it comes to the position of women. Depending on the religion, women have more equality then others. In different religions today, many have become more lenient allowing women to work and not just stay home. Some religions still perceive women as the keeper of the house and children while the man goes to work. In the Jewish community they practice sex segregation, women on one side and men on the other. They do this to prevent the women from “distracting” the men during prayer services and church. Or in the Islamic culture women must cover themselves up to as much as their entire body hands and face using the niqabs which covers everything but the eyes of a woman. They do this because in their religion, they are taught to cover their “awrah” which is the intimate parts of their bodies. Women are seen to have more restrictions as to what they must have covered like their hair and entire body. The women must do this in order to not entice men to look at them and lead them to covet them, flirt with them, and lose focus. In a sense they are really saying it would be a women’s fault if a man were to find her attractive merely by seeing her hair. This makes women inferior no matter how you look at it. Women must cover entirely while the men are free to dress with fewer limitations.
Women have come a long way when it comes to religious rules in how women should be. I believe progression is still being made and will take years before women will have the complete choice on certain issues. It also goes back to how the women were raised and what they have become acquainted with. Some women like and agree with the ways they know and others go just go along with it because they do not have much of a say. As the years go on, women will get more freedom and options according to their religion.

Domestic Violence Issues

I was able to see a special on MTV this past weekend on Chris Brown, it went into great detail about his childhood, as well as his career as an artist. Chris was born in Tappahannock, Virginia it was here where his mother and stepfather would raise him, however with many serious issues along the way. Growing up Chris was in a setting of constant domestic abuse, where his step father would physically beat his mother. Chris stated in an earlier interview back in 2006 that he disrespected anyone who showed any signs of this abuse both physically and verbally, saying even people using the “b-word” would be out of my life. Unforunately for Chris we all now know what would be lurking in the future for him, that being his own problem with domestic abuse involving Rihanna. Here Chris got into an argument the night of the Grammy’s and ended up punching her in the face several times. According to Sheryl Cates CEO of the domestic violence hotline, she states that there is a very easy explanation for Chris’ behavior, that since he was accustomed to seeing it happen in such a common occurrence when he was a child it became engraved into his mind. He may be outspoken about domestic violence, however if he is elevated to that level of anger he will quickly use that idea as a reaction because he has seen it so much over his life. Eventually Chris pleaded guilty to felony domestic abuse, and was sentenced to 5 years probation and many hours of community service. The show goes into the life of Chris Brown after the incident, noting that it wasn’t until he was performing Man in the Mirror a tribute for his close friend who passed away, Michael Jackson that everything came to a forefront. After getting through the first few series of lyrics Chris broke down and started crying on one of the biggest stages of the year, showing a great first step in knowing you did something wrong. According to Cates the next step is getting help, because if you don’t it will always be there with you. Personally I feel no sorrow for Chris, I think he is a talented musician, but for me treating women wrongly is a very sensitive spot in my heart. I just have always been taught the proper ways to treat a lady and to see him be pretty much a hypocrite about an issue he said scarred his life, is just plain and simply pathetic. I hope he is able to openly speak to people about his life and this incident and say that it is alright to get help before you act in a similar manner. It will definitely be interesting to see how Chris Brown’s career transcends after all these significant events in his life.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604730/chris-browns-family-has-history-domestic-abuse.jhtml

Transgender in Athletics

Today I had writers block and was limited on the events I was finding on the internet to write about for my blog, so I flipped on ESPN and watched “Outside the Lines” which focuses on very important stories and issues about sports with amateur and professional players. Here the main focus was centered on Kye Allums, a Junior basketball player for the George Washington women’s team. Kye is the first publicly transgendered person to play college sports. Her story goes into great detail about the emotion and events that happened to get to the point she is at right now. In high school she had occurrences with other females thinking she might be a lesbian. However this simply wore off and things didn’t feel right, believing that the body he was born into was simply the wrong gender Kye sent his mother an email stating his feelings. That he didn’t choose to be born in this body, and feel the he does. Kye will finish out his playing career then have the necessary procedure and drug protocol done to become a male gender. I personally don’t know how I can express my opinion on such a subject because I have never experience anything even close to this measure, being trapped in a body you never wanted would be a terrible nightmare. I think that I would do the same thing if I was feeling all the emotions Kye was feeling, however at the same time I definitely feel for the mother who has been pretty upset over the whole thing. It is your baby girl you raised when she was little all the way up until college and you never once would think that something like the idea of transgender would fall into the equation. I am really happy to hear that Kye has the support of her coach and teammates because with out them I don’t know how he could make it through this period of his life.

Tony Porter

I was able to attend the presentation by Tony Porter “a Call to Man”. Here he discussed his story and the proper ways to treat women and kids. Using his example of a “man-box” to prove his argument which was, trying to drive men away from that traditional view of masculinity. He used this man-box to have celebrities such as the Rock, who after doing shoot’em up movies decided to do a couple Disney roles as well, his point was that we are so ready to throw him out of there because he is going against our perceived idea of masculinity. However this isn’t the right way of thinking because in the Disney roles he is connecting with kids and showing them exactly what most men should be doing the right way to treat people. He goes into great detail into his own story about how he was led down the wrong path but eventually had the courage to overpower his friends because he knew what was wrong and he thought about how he would want his daughter treated. He went on to ask us if men these days would approve of the way college guys treat women if it was our own daughter. Myself personally I would feel absolutely disgusted with the way men treat women nowadays. It is no wonder we have greater poverty rates and crime rates, if these men who are mistreating women are teaching this to their own kids, not only that these children are even lucky if they have a dad to teach them the proper ways because there are more and more single mothers raising boys everyday. I got a lot out of Tony’s story and I know that the minor blemishes I have in treating women are definitely going to be changed if not for the sake of me and the person I am in a relationship with, then for the sake of my kids so they know how to treat somebody.

Women and Abortion

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues today. Many think that abortion should not be legal because it is “taking a life” and no one person has the right to decide if a child should live or die. I was raised my whole life with people constantly preaching this idea to me, I myself would not want my girlfriend or wife to get an abortion if she unexpectedly became pregnant but I do realize many situations are greatly different. Situations involving rape for one I feel that such a horrific act, rightly allows for a woman to have a choice. In our more modern society women should have the choice of what they want to do when a pregnancy occurs. Women have the right to determine what happens to them and their body. Abortion plays a role when the mother would end up without the father, and if she is financially unstable. There are countless reasons a woman would choose to have an abortion which to her these reasons are significant. Women like to look at the bigger picture especially if the pregnancy can cause them harm or if the child will have birth defects or developmental issues later in life. Parents can also play a role if a woman decides to have an abortion. If the woman is too young, the family has certain religious standards or she is unmarried. Parents could put stress upon the mother and lead her to the decision to terminate based on the negative consequences they have laid upon her. I feel whatever degree the situation is, as a whole women deserve to have that right to choose what they want to do with their body, however me individually I feel as if I would encourage the person I got pregnant to have the child.

Women and Birthcontrol

There are a lot of people nowadays that are against women using contraceptives. They feel it interrupts the natural process of conceiving and this is not what God would want. Religion clearly plays a factor to why women should not use contraceptives. Those who agree that women should not use birth control are usually for this because they do not believe women should be having sex until they are married and then should abstain until then. In our world today, premarital sex is practiced far more than it was in previous years or so we know. If a couple who is not married or even planning to get married but do not want children who is to say they can’t prevent this from happening?
What many fail to understand that it is the woman’s right to her body to determine if she wants to prevent children or have them. Also the cost of living, health care, and child care is increasing which makes it entirely more expensive to have a family. Some women who also work often and do not have the time to have children also have the right to be on birth control until she is ready to take the time for a family and not spend as much time working. I personally believe that it is a woman's choice, while I was raised not to have premarital sex, and not to use contraceptives, I also realize we are in a totally different society now than when these beliefs first came about. There would be several global problems as well if we did not have birth control our world would be entirely over populated causing greater crime and poverty in third world countries. Birth control is a need in certain circumstances and it is a woman’s right to choose what they want to do.

Women and Sexuality

In the years before, women being “bisexual” or a “lesbian” was highly frowned upon. It was not talked about and several women concealed who they really were in fear of the rejection and degradation society would show them. In the 1920s when Freud brought his proposal of sexual desire, this led people to explore their sexuality. Shortly after in the 30s with the Depression, that idea died out because women found it necessary to marry because of the harsh economic conditions people were facing. I have met older women who expressed to me that if women were very open about sex she was looked at as a disgrace and would never find a husband. People in earlier years women needed to keep quiet about their sexuality. When the 60’s and 70’s came around this was another time of experimentation and people were more open about sex and sexual preference. It was not rare to run across two women together. This evidently was a very controversial issue, but many did not care what people thought. Women finally could express who they were and who they wanted to be with. This was one of the first issues women conquered and even though today not everyone agrees with women being a lesbian, a bisexual or just open about sex as a whole, people are more comfortable about it and learning how to deal with it or how to accept it. It is more common now to see women more comfortable with their sexual preference, so it is not a shocking subject to be talked about.

Passing the Paycheck

Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act is a proposed type of legislation that will expand on the ideas of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, this would be a success for women all around the world. Women are only paid 77 cents to a man’s dollar which unquestionably shows the unfair treatment of educated women. Women with identical degrees and equivalent training should not be paid less. If women have spent the same time in school chasing the same degree as a man, there should be equal pay. This is a big problem for single parent women or single women as a whole because of the pay difference. Our economy is not the greatest and to have such a large gap for salary between men and women is ridiculous. If a woman goes to Harvard for a law degree and a man goes to UNC for the same law degree, there should be equality unless the woman or man did drastically different in their studies with higher recommendations.
This law should be passed to give women the same chances in life as a man. If a woman is a better accountant or a better doctor who is to say she should not be compensated for her work. This is what discourages women to want to go to school and acquire higher educational degree. Women find it easier to get a lesser degree because of all the problems they run into such as the wage gap and unfair treatment that only increases with higher education. Men should be happy that women want to go out and be successful and not have all the stress put on a man to take care of the home and bills. If a woman could help her husband, that should not be looked down upon. Hopefully in the near future this legislation will be passed and women will be able to get another step towards equality.

Significance of Title IX

Back to Title IX, this also plays a major role in the education for women. In the 1970’s, universities and colleges were denying women admission to their facility. The unfairness of financial aid and admissions is less common in our day due to Title IX, which allowed more balance and women are now earning degrees at a much higher rate, in fields that were traditionally male dominated only in earlier years.
You still see the discrimination because there are still fields of work that are predominantly males. You more so hear of women being a nurse over a doctor or a elementary teacher over a professor. Even though there are some women in these fields and the number of women seeking higher education is increasing, these fields are still for the most part male dominated. In society today, it is not uncommon to have a female doctor, surgeon, dentist, construction worker, engineer and so on. Women are starting to take on jobs other than the “female” dominate positions such as nurses, childcare workers, cooks etc.
Universities now are proud to have successful women and men and not just taking pride in the men as they used to. Universities and colleges are making it easier for women to get a degree by having day care centers and working with class schedules for women who do have families. The professors and school give lenience to women who have families and young children at home. Today we are seeing more and more women taking on an education to better their families they have or wanting to have. As a society we are slowly getting away from our traditional beliefs and becoming more modern, and with that we are getting closer everyday to a better balance between degree of education, and wages. I hope that more policies such as Title IX are approved in the future so that there will be an even greater balance.

Athletics and Gender

In 1972 the Title IX law was passed by President Richard Nixon to prohibit any sex discrimination in any education program or activity. This law finally gave women the equal opportunity to participate in athletics the same as men did. They would be able to have their own teams in the same sports as men did.
Nowadays people still view athletics as predominantly male orientated. Even though equal in what sports males and females can play people still pay more attention to the sports that men take part in. More people will watch the NBA over the WNBA or men’s soccer over women’s. People seem to find men’s sports are more fun and interesting to watch than women’s. As I see on television, a Buck’s arena would be filled over Los Angeles Sparks team.
There are several women’s sports equal to men from football, basketball, baseball/softball and more, but they are just not talked about as much as men’s athletics. In reality, men’s athletics will bring more people out which in return will make more money. You don’t see a woman’s football draft or WNBA like you see men have every year and you don’t hear about these great female athletes like you hear about men on ESPN.
In a sense just because the Title IX law was passed and women do indeed have the fair chance to play sports, men still are the dominate ones in the athletics just because it is more popular among people to take interest in males playing the games. This in turn reduces women's salaries because the return on revenue is a lot less, the MVP of the WNBA makes a few hundred thousand dollars, while the MVP of the NBA makes several million. I hope in the near future women are capable of making the similar salaries as their male counterparts so that there is more balance in this industry, while the Title IX is a great start to achieving this balance, it is still a long ways away.

Gender Wage Gap

The gender wage gap is a highly debated issue among economists and the workers effecting it. Some economists believe that it is due to a few male workers making significantly more than women with a similar job, while others believe it is more commonly seen among all job types. Either way the gender wage gap definitely exists and is among racial groups as well, this gap is greatest in caucasians where 73% of women make the same wage as their male counterparts of the same job, while 85% of african american women make the same wage as their male counterpart. Some may say that education is a major reason why this is occurring however it is the exact opposite, the gender wage gap is greater as you get more education. Now women are definitely making more money with a college degree than if they had not but comparing it with their male counterpart the gap is significantly higher than had then both not gone to college. There are several reasons why women may in fact earn less than men, one of these ideas is commonly called "mommy tracking" where the employer is afraid to make an investment in female labor because they are afraid they will leave to raise children in the near future, there fore giving the job or raise to the male. Another aspect of this idea is that if a male were to go to war he would still make similar equivalents of money when he returns because the employer deems it an important event to fight for the country, where in  the women's situation having a child isn't as significant. If we embrace different rules instead of assuming they are gender neutral and men are just following them better, we will all be better off. Now a man's wife and daughter will be making more money, bringing more wealth to the family and allowing a better more balanced economy. However we continue being stuck on the traditional sense of values and ideas.  Are these the kind of values we want to live by? If this kind of thinking continues the wage gap may never close and women will never break through the glass ceiling.