And the Award Goes To…Him (Duh!) | By Kate Reiner
Sellnow (2018) defines patriarchy as “the structuring of society around family units where the male is the authority figure and is responsible for the welfare of his family members and the community” (p. 140). I cannot help but consider the many ways in which patriarchy extends to influencing the larger socioeconomic structures of our society, and how that has impacted me at times.
I entered the workforce when I was 16. I started as a credit union teller and by 21, I had worked my way up through various roles to loan processor. I had also been functioning as a loan officer for some time, but unofficially. Eventually, a loan officer position finally came open, and I of course applied. I didn’t get it. A gentleman who had been recently hired, and who I happened to be training through his onboarding, was awarded the position. I went to the credit union president immediately to protest the decision, arguing that I had seniority and that I was already performing the role without the appropriate compensation. The response, and I quote, was “He has a family to take care of and needs the role more than you do.” Returning to my desk, angry, confused, and defeated, I continued to train this new guy, who was now to be my superior, on how to do his job. Why? Because I did in fact need my job. Like anyone else, I had rent, a car, bills, and all the other expenses that came along with adulting, as well as college tuition to pay.
A Marxist feminist perspective calls our attention to these economic inequities between women and men, and how those inequities serve to further reinforce or perpetuate the traditional hegemonic stereotypes assigned to women and men (Sellnow, 2018). I cannot help but agree. Growing up in the wake of third-wave feminism, and until I was confronted with it, it had never occurred to me that I would be seen differently in the workplace. It was shocking to have been met with an attitude about women in the workplace that up until that point, I had believed existed in my grandmother’s day, but not mine.
Actor Ryan Gosling’s recent Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in the 2023 Barbie film put a spotlight on this ongoing struggle for equality, not necessarily for equal pay, but in recognition for work performed. While Gosling politely acknowledged the accolades, he criticized the academy’s failure to formally recognize the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, and lead role as Barbie, Margot Robbie, saying:
"I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. […] But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit, and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement." (Ewe, 2024, para. 3-5)
Gosling’s statement is important as it asks us to consider why his female director and counterpart weren’t nominated, and by doing so calls into question whether the hegemonic norms that have worked to disempower women in the workplace in the past may have influenced the academy’s decision.
Looking back, I can see where things have improved since I first joined the workforce, where politically correct discourse is now commonplace, and where there’s a more equitable representation of both women and men in leadership roles. But studies done in 2023 show that the gender pay gap still sits at women making $0.83 for every $1 that men make (2023 Gender Pay Gap report, n.d.), a marginal increase over the last two decades and one that serves as a blatant reminder that there’s still a long way to go.
Why has equal pay for women, and recognition in the case of Gerwig and Robbie, been such a long-drawn-out initiative? I believe it’s because there still exists the patriarchal elephant in the room, and with it, a sense that shared empowerment requires the empowered to give something up if the unempowered were to attain equal ground. But a loss of what exactly? Will there ever be a time when socioeconomic equality is achieved in the workplace? Where equal pay isn't seen as a shift in power but as something simply inherent to a job performed? I certainly hope so.
References
Ewe, K. (2024, January 23). ‘No ken without barbie’: Ryan Gosling reacts to Oscars nomination and colleagues’ snubs. Time. https://time.com/6576771/ryan-gosling-oscar-nominations-barbie-statement-gerwig-robbie-ferrera/
2023 gender pay gap report. (n.d.). Payscale. Retrieved on February 4, 2024, from https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/gender-pay-gap/#module-18
Sellnow, D. D. (2018). The rhetorical power of popular culture: considering mediated texts (3rd Ed). Sage Publications.
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Reading your account of the workplace incident at the credit union actually made me sick to my stomach.
ReplyDeleteAs for why the gender wage gap continues to exist, Fransen et al. (2012) suggests that discrimination and gender bias are the main factors. To prove this, the authors first indicate that the wage gap, at least in the Netherlands, has actually decreased significantly from 1996 to 2006. This is because there are a multitude of factors that have favored women in terms of shrinking the pay gap. For instance, one such example was the increase in education costs widening the overall wage distribution between educated workers and non-educated workers, and allowing women with college degrees to close the gap on their male counterparts (Fransen et al., 2012, p. 19).
However, this leads the authors to their conclusion that the gap still exists due to gender bias and outright discrimination on the behalf of the employers, simply because the other factors have indicated that the gap should not exist. The research findings about the diminishing wage gap leave no excuse for employers to continue to discriminate in terms of the relationship involving wages and gender or identity. Therefore, the "patriarchal elephant in the room" you alluded to is very prominently seen through the research, and the "loss" would simply be the loss of power in the workplace. Additionally, according to the research, the best way to close the gap would be to reinforce companies with equal pay practices and to create and enforce nationwide policies that target wage discrimination.
References
Fransen, E., Plantenga, J., & Vlasblom, J. D. (2012). Why do women still earn less than men? Decomposing the Dutch gender pay gap, 1996–2006. Applied Economics, 44(33), 4343-4354.