responding post

As I read the two chapters in the Curious Feminist, I was struck by the disparity between the public image that the United States company tries to portray, and their labor practices in different countries. In Asia, the wage disparity is much higher than it is in the United States. However is their much of a positive public image if the wage is still lower for women than men in the United States? I had a personal experience with this issue of men having higher wages when I was a lifeguard for three years in the summers at my local country club. I was talking with a fellow colleague who was male. He was telling me he made 8.50 an hour compared to my 7.25. the reason I was so upset is because it was my third year working at the club, and it was only his first year working. I think that this experience demonstrates the issue that still stands today in labor practices in the United States. Obviously the labor practices in Asia are much more prominent and apparent but I don't think that our public image of the workforce is where it needs to be.

I constantly here about the issue of women picking between family and career. I think that although many women are choosing careers over family, we still don't have much of a choice because we are expected to go on med leave if we are pregnant, and once the baby is born. We are expected to raise the baby and take care of it while our husbands work. You could have a very prominent job in the work force but if you ever want to have children, which most people do, it is hard to find an equilibrium.