DAY 65 - IT'S A MAN'S WORLD

So I started a Temporary Contract job today.  It’s writing trainings in customer service – so it’s right up my alley. And it’s nice to have a paycheck coming in again – even if only for a little while.

   Maybe it’s just this particular place, but the first dozen people I saw at the office today were all men – and 80% of the employees were men. I walked in the door with a few men, more men came in while I was checking in, and most of the desks I passed on the way to my office – men.

   Sure, part of it is because it’s a facility that does contract work with the U.S. Government and Army (and apparently there were some extra Army people there today). But it was so strongly a male environment that it really gave me pause.

   Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t have anything against men. I actually rather quite like men. But after having bounced around the country this past year, and being in work environments that were so diverse – both in gender and ethnicity – being back in an environment that was mostly white men was a huge change.

   Admittedly, part of it is likely due to the more technical nature of the job demands. And the U.S. Military is predominantly male. But, in general, Utah has a larger percentage of men that work than women. This isn’t just my opinion. According to the State of Utah, only 59% of married women work – and only 62% of all women in Utah work.

   Of course, that Utah women only make an average of $.69 for every dollar a man earns could contribute to those numbers. And that the national average is $.77 per dollar is appalling. Not only because that’s still ridiculously unfair, but that here in Utah we’re even lower than the pathetic national average.

   As a woman who has worked in Corporate America since she was age 16 – this is infuriating. Especially with my current Job Hunt, that I am valued “lower” financially than my male counterparts is simply Wrong. Despite my stellar resume and extensive experience, I do know of a number of instances where I have been discriminated against because of my gender. I have literally lost positions or been overlooked because a male co-worker “has a family to support”. And although I “sucked-it-up” at the time, the blatant discrimination was hurtful and unfair – not to mention illegal.

   I have supported myself (and my spouses) for nearly 30 years now. During my 17-year marriage, I was the primary breadwinner for 16 of those years. Although he usually worked, I carried the insurance and all the financing and home-purchasing was based on my salary alone. He just had a rather unstable work history (10 jobs in 17 years). Even during my brief 5-week marriage earlier this year, I was the sole earner – from before we were even married until the Annulment papers were signed. Which just shows that it’s not always the man that provides for the family – so why is it that men get the advantages?

   And I do think that it is more prevalent in Utah than most other locations. There is an assumption that “men provide for their families financially” and “women care for the children”. Neither has been true in my life – and I’ve been at this for 20 years.

   I do choose to have a career. Had I had the opportunity to have children, maybe things would be different – but that was never an option for me. And what was I supposed to do – sit home and eat Bon Bons waiting for the child that would never be? My fertility challenges will be left for another day – but I chose to have a career because I followed the only path in front of me. I don’t apologize for it. And I am offended that with all of the effort that I have put being a good employee and building a career, that I earn less than my male counterparts.

   It saddens me that even in the 21st Century that blatant discrimination still exists. Fifty years ago it was racially-based discrimination that was rampant – and (hopefully) no one would tolerate that today. Gratefully, I believe we are moving in the right direction with gender-based discrimination. Nearly 100-years-ago, when my grandmother was abandoned by her husband, she couldn’t even get a job – and she and her four young children had to move in with her parents. My mom went back to work when I was little, and barely made above minimum wage – but for those 15 years, at least she had a job she enjoyed. And I am blessed with a career that I love, and that even with the gender-wage-gap, a salary that pays rather well. I hope that the next generation sees continued improvement. And maybe by the generation after that they will see equal-pay-for-equal-work. And I hope I live to see that day.