Equal Pay for Equal Work
Equal Pay for Equal Work For years, women have been fighting for equality in everything that they do. If one takes a close look at the issues surrounding the differences between men's and women's roles in the workforce, one will notice that women tend to be one step below on the “status” or “importance” ladder. In American society, the woman has always been viewed traditionally in the role she should play in the home; that she is the “homemaker” or “caretaker”. Even when women break from the stereotype of “housewife” and join the workforce, they still are not given an equal opportunity at acquiring a job that is seen to be as advancing or of garnering higher recognition. Women deserve the same pay for the same work performed by their equal male counterparts due to the fact that many women have become the sole providers of their families, and there nothing a man can do that a woman cannot do, their physical and mental abilities overlap, plus several other myths. Men, in the 1940s, were the head of the house; their role was to take charge of everything, and they made all of the family's choices. Men were supposed to build lives for their families. Married women in the '40s were supposed to clean the home, bear children, and keep the house running efficiently. Late in 1941, these roles were disrupted; the United States entered into World War II, the men were sent away to the war, and the women had to fill the roles of the men in the workforce. Everywhere newspapers had advertisements for help wanted and jobs. Millions of American women took the responsibility to fill the newly-available positions (Rowland 71). This created a new image for women by the middle of the 1940s, with the support of the government the women were encouraged to fill the spots of the men who had gone over seas (Rowland 75). A survey was conducted by the Department of Labor after the end of World War II to determine if women would have liked to keep their jobs. The survey found that only 20
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