Does 'womens studies' tell the whole story?

Question

I'm interested, because Maddy Jinx has explained she's a student of women's studies - and puts a few arguments forward that have been discredited repeatedly. Are the WS tutors guilty of not telling Maddy the 'full truth' - perhaps even telling 'half' truths? Do they explain HOW things are worked out (as oppose just the outcome)? etc. etc.?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTB1a2x0anY5BF9TAzIxMTU1MDA0NDMEc2VjA3BlZXBfZQRzbGsDcQ--?qid=20071017124452AAsOzgc
"Women who are licensed medical doctors make about $.60 on the dollar compared to the male counterparts in the same field. Women who are computer scientists also suffer some the largest gender wage gaps in the United States. Why is that?"

So...do women's studies classes only give misrepresentations of reality by omitting detail and leaving the student to make their own conclusions (i.e. to assume patriarchy or sexism or waffle blah blah)

For example, feminists are always whining about $0.76 to a man's $1, yet do they explain HOW?

"To the average person, that ratio gives the false impression that any woman working is at risk of being paid 24 cents less per dollar than a man in the same position.

But all the wage-gap ratio reflects is a comparison of the median earnings of all working women and men who log at least 35 hours a week on the job, any job. That's it."

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/21/commentary/everyday/sahadi/index.htm (that quote shocked me, because it was from a Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. (very feminist sounding - so it was shocking to hear them explain HOW instead of leaving the explanations to one's imagination)

Rio: you said "Mathematical theories are disproven all the time. In those cases people don't complain half as much."
I won't disagree with your statement per se - but, these Mathematical theories which are disproven... are they trying to bash half the planet's population in the theory?
That may be why men are complaining ... sick of being blamed for everything, including women's own choices in career and overtime. Wouldn't you complain if someone blamed you for any & everything wrong in their life or only told partial facts about you - wouldn't you try to put the whole story out for people to know the truth instead of that persons' misrepresentation of who you are? I know I would.

Answer 1

The thing you have to realize is, it's not 'women's' studies, it's 'feminists' studies masking behind 'women,' just like the mask behind their 'equality.'

Answer 2

In the work-a-day world, or should I say, in the trenches, reality sets in. Truly, there are some incredibly intelligent women who raise the bar in so many ways.

In my experience however, the one area they usually fall behind in, is work ethic. This is not to say that women don't work as hard as men, to them it's a question of priority. Some women fall in the category of wanting their cake and eating it too. By this, I mean having a family and a career.

This duality is much harder on women than on men. Men can turn over the parenting to women to whatever degree they choose, or can get away with it. Whereas women are forced to do their 9 to 5, and whenever possible or necessary, be mom, too!

Often, the 9 to 5 takes a back seat to the kids and their needs. This is where the rub comes in. Many employers, co-workers, and customers are not ready to accept this. The women are put between a rock and a hard place, but are not willing to make a commitment, either way, and some can't because they're self supporting.

I don't know diddly about Maddy Jinx or WS studies. Your question did catch my interest when you asked about women and lower wages. Perhaps some of my input will better explain some of the reasons for this. Is it fair? Yes and no !

Answer 3

I'm a college student, and last quarter I took a class called "Cultural Diversity" (not a women's studies class), and the textbook actually said that women make on average .80 cents (it might have been .70, I really can't remember)- for every dollar men make. (This was even a test question on on a mid-term in that class.) What the text did not say is how and who came up with this statement. Now just because a college textbook says something like that does not automatically mean it's true, but one does have to consider how and why (and by whom) the information came to be there. Also, being the critical thinker that I am, I have to take into account when this book was written. The text was 16 years old. It, in my opinion, really had no place being used as a modern textbook in a college class. But that's just my own personal opinion.

EDIT: I've just come across a textbook (written in 2004) for another college class ("Understanding Diversity"): name of the textbook is "Race, Ethnicity, and Gender". It states that women earn on average .25 cents less per dollar than men make. Again, the text does not tell us how this statistic is calculated or by whom.

I do believe the wage gap existed, but the question is, does it still exist today? Is there a way to reliably confirm or disprove this idea?

EDIT: Just for the record, my instructor was a man.

Answer 4

Because feminists may have made some minor errors in the course of determining the wage gap does not mean the rest of what is taught in Women's Studies is also not factual.

Mathematical theories are disproven all the time. In those cases people don't complain half as much.

Answer 5

Never looked into it but one thing I have learned from taking statistics is that the data can be shaped to say what you want it to say. So you have to question the sampling methods, the way the data was put together, and how old the data is. I do believe women may get paid less than men since most CEO jobs are male dominated but the pay gap between a male and female worker is not that bad and continues to close. The important thing to look at now is they are both in the same field, same position, same amount of experience, and number of degrees/certifications, also the region of the country that the sampling is done. Different regions will have different pay scales due to cost of living varying from one area of the country to the next.

Answer 6

properly, "women human beings's examine" isn't noticeably much history, it relatively is approximately application of social technological expertise innovations to modern-day subject concerns dealing with women human beings. it is likewise approximately social theories. it relatively is noticeably interdisciplinary to a definite quantity. i in my opinion do no longer think of fellows's examine is all that necessary because of the fact it may then be something of a replicate, yet i could prefer to work out communicate approximately masculinity (which already exists in some colleges). observe that I advise communicate from a independent attitude, no longer a biased one. by skill of the by skill of, it relatively is many times observed as "women human beings and Gender examine," which provides greater credence to the interdisciplinary theory. i do no longer think of the mere call "women human beings's examine" is that great of a identify for it, to tell you the reality.

Answer 7

It is neither the Study nor the Student who is to blame. The course content is determined by the Teacher. Her bias is the cause for so much disinformation. Just look at the way statistics are 'rounded off' so as to bring the anticipated results into line with current social views and opinions within a Feminist context. I would be called a liar if I were to do that about My Income Tax Return.

Answer 8

Even your link, whose author presents herself as moderate, omits the risk factor, despite citing Warren Farrell who is ALL OVER the differential payment for risky jobs. (90-some-odd % of job deaths are male). And she doesn't carry out the math. She presents estimates of the portion of the wage gap attributable to discrimination as 10-33%. Since she's working with a 24-cent gap, this amounts to two to eight cents of discrimination, but she doesn't make this plain. So, without taking into account the risk-differential, women are paid at an adjustable rate of 92-98 cents per male dollar. Not as dramatic as 76 cents per dollar, but oh, well. When you don't believe in objective truth, it's all about rhetoric and winning.

Answer 9

Aside from all that, it is well known and has been well known for some years that " studies " classes of all types are academically suspect to blatantly ideological. Not one bit of empirically supported work/theory has come out of these " disciplines. " This is why they trumpet post-modernism's denial of objective reality, or " different truths for different folks. "

Rio. Mathematical theories are not disproved all the time, but give people fits proving them. I am shocked at your mathematical acumen.

Answer 10

Feminism is ALL lies half truths deceptions.