By Lauren Cash
The Tumblr-spawn’s whines have made the “feminist” movement louder. They have, regrettably, grabbed far too much of my attention. The main discourse on third-wave feminism revolves around three main points: the misunderstood wage gap, the so-called glass ceiling, and the patriarchy (read: boogeyman).
Feminist.org describes the “glass ceiling” as “a barrier that is so subtle that it is transparent, yet so strong that it prevents women from moving up the corporate hierarchy. From their vantage point on the corporate ladder, women can see the high-level corporate positions but are kept from reaching the top.” It is “not simply a barrier for an individual, based on the person’s inability to handle a higher-level job. Rather, the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing higher because they are women.” The culprit behind this belief, according to feminists, is “the patriarchy”– the belief that we live in a society that is male-dominated, in which only men hold positions of leadership, are socially privileged, and hold moral authority. The logic goes as follows: more men than women hold positions of power, those men continue to hire more men than women because they see men as being more capable, thus only a small percentage of women manage to reach high levels of power, so women as a whole can’t reach those positions that are above the “glass ceiling.”
I almost believed it. I almost did. Until I realized that there are laws that prevent discrimination against gender. Implemented by men. Who elected those men? Glad you asked– women. The Washington Post records that ever since 1980, more women have been voting than men. Anyway, since there is no legal issue in regards to hiring, feminists must be approaching this from a standpoint that merely ASSUMES that men in power choose not to hire women because they prefer men. But first, I have questions. How did men arise to those positions of power? By stepping on women to get to the top? Or did they exert the aggression, knowledge, and leadership skills necessary to get there?
In the late 20th and early 21st century, as women increasingly seek higher education and attain degrees (The Pew Research center has also recorded that since 1992, more women than men have been attaining four-year degrees, and the gap between male and female graduation rates is continuing to expand) it is more than ridiculous to argue that women with the proper academic qualifications aren’t being hired because men, on the whole, are sexist and think that a male could do the job better. In fact, that is the opposite of what’s happening: researchers at the Cornell Institute for Women in Science have found that in the STEM field, women enjoy a 2:1 hiring ratio over men who are just as qualified for the position. What is likely the ugly truth is that the vast majority of women lack the assertiveness, confidence, and determination to further themselves in their careers.
You will find that men who lack assertiveness and drive will also find themselves in lower positions of power. It is less an issue with gender than it is with personality. For example, if you’re familiar with the Myers-Briggs type indicator, you know that ENTJ types (extroversion, intuition, thinking, judgment) are more likely to be top executives, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and organization builders. Conversely, ISFJs (introverting, sensing, feeling, judging) are more likely to be decorators, social workers, child care providers, and assistants. The jobs that ENTJs are most likely to hold pay higher than the ISFJ jobs. This helps explain the wage gap: most women are nurturers, more likely to be ISFJ types. The wage gap is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men. As follows, women get paid less on average because the jobs that they are most likely to hold don’t offer as high of a salary– NOT because women are being paid less for the same job. That is not a thing that’s happening in America. I can’t believe I just had to say that.
Alas, I can’t blame everything on the third-wave feminists; I have to concede that they are a product of their social environment. Millennials, by and large, have the tendency to assign blame to others before themselves. We also like to complain about the way things are, when only a few of us are gifted with the motivation to change it. We have been conditioned to view things as unfair and unjust when we have failed to win. Women, my advice to you is to remember that nothing restrains us– it is the third-wave feminist movement that is fooling us into thinking that we can’t do everything. We can, as long as we keep our noses to the grindstone and stop wasting the time and energy on the bitching.