When we think of the word “superhero,” we think of someone with special abilities such as super strength or speed. We think of someone who is able to do it all and save everyone around him, no sweat. He never loses, and is always on top of his game. The all-American superhero – it’s not Captain America, if that’s what you’re thinking.
The person I am referring to is actually, believe it or not, a “she”. The average American woman. Typically in her thirties and forties, she is a wife, mother, friend and career woman. Oh, and good-looking, of course — can’t let life cause you to let yourself go.
Recently I have noticed that now, more than ever, the pressure is on for women to be all of these things or risk being labeled a failure. When did women agree to any of this?
It has always been rare to find a stay-at-home dad in a typical family, but what is becoming more and more unheard of today is a woman who stays at home. Women are no longer divided into two categories, stay-at-home moms and career women. They are both, and this new position can be known as the “double shift.”
Women now comprise 46 percent of the nation’s workforce, but unfortunately this statistic does not scream gender equality. If anything, it instills just the opposite. We do the same jobs yet earn less than men, and there is still the domestic sphere to be in charge of. Many women feel that to give up one or the other, a family life or successful career, is to “give in” to the expectations surrounding them. So they simply do both.
I have always dreamed of having a career. I wanted to be a doctor when I was in elementary school, a psychologist in high school, and now I am aiming towards becoming a journalist. To be honest, I never dreamed of planning the perfect wedding or being a mom. I guess you could say my goals have always been a bit self-centered. But is that so bad? According to America’s standards, it definitely is.
This column isn’t meant to be a long complaint about how unfair the world is for women, but let’s take a second to look at the facts. For every dollar that men earn, women make 77.5 cents. Nearly half the employers in the country do not pay maternity leave. Women earn less than men in 99 percent of all jobs. And perhaps the most disturbing statistic: The more education a woman has, the bigger the discrepancy she’ll see in her wages. Let us compare that with the fact that since 1996, more females have graduated college than men.
What exactly are we doing trying to earn bachelors and masters degrees if they could cause us to earn less in the long run? I would like to think that graduating from an accredited university would make my chances for success higher rather than lower.
I recently heard the quote, “Be a girl with a mind, a woman with attitude, and a lady with class.” Just don’t forget to take care of your family, land a job that pays, and don’t complain about anything as well.