When it comes to pay, size matters Long-held, media-driven stereotypes about size and weight are playing out in the workplace for both men and women, according to a study, which found that thin women are paid more than their average-weight counterparts, while thin men are actually penalized for slimness. If you are a woman, you should be extremely thin; if you are a man, you should be big and strong. And while we've grown accustomed to seeing studies that such stereotypes play out in the workplace -- overweight and obese women, for example, have a harder time ascending the career staircase -- a recent study has found that a worker's girth can have an appreciable impact on the size of their paycheck. The study found that thin women are paid significantly more than their average-sized counterparts, while heavier women make less. Skinnier-than-average men, on the …show more content…
In general, she said, people have distinct subconscious reactions to different body types. For instance: For a man, skinny says less-than-manly and gay, two qualities that clash with our Americanized vision of a leader: tall, strong and emotionally unmoved. For women, an ultra-thin figure simply says success, and makes for an attractive corporate image, she said. Amelia Rayno said The pounds -- whether more or less -- add up in terms of dollars, according to the study, "When It Comes to Pay, Do the Thin Win? The Effect of Weight on Pay for Men and Women," published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in fall. Being thin paid off in a big way for women, earning them about $16,000 more a year, on average. But thin men made about $8,000 less than their male co-workers. The researchers, Timothy Judge and Daniel Cable, say that much of the problem is the result of subconscious decisions based on entrenched social
Even in the modern society woman are constantly looked down. A quick comparison the average wage of a man and a woman shows that woman are still paid lower wages for the same amount of work.
The remaining explanations of gender-based wage differences fall under the umbrella category of discrimination. Employer preference discusses the ways in which employers differentiate between potential employees based on noneconomic factors such as physical appearance. Statistical discrimination uses the ways in which employers stereotype groups of people and therefore avoid hiring certain people because of their association with a typical group. This plays into the gender-based wage gap because employers tend to view women as the group they are a part of – the female popula...
Why do women still earn less than men? : Monthly Labor Review. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2017, from
Katz states that “physical size and strength for many men have become increasingly important to proving manhood” (Katz 3). He blames mainstream media for creating stereotypes of what men should look like and how they should act if they want to be a manly man. Action films starring, buff, male actors is one example he uses that portrays a tough guy image. He goes on to say that men are challenged by woman in education and in profession so the belief to have the advantage of being stronger and bigger in build result proving how important physical appearance is to man (Katz 2). The way he explains it is that men are to be seen as violent and more powerful or they won’t be seen as a manly man. Katz stresses on the idea of stereotypical images of men and the expectations that are put on men because of how much it can affect them at a young
There are some human phenomena, which seem to be the result of individual actions and personal decisions. Yet, these phenomena are often - on closer inspection – as much a result of social factors as of psychological ones.
Under certain circumstances, being tormented about one's weight can be the foundation of other issues as well. For children growing up it can be especially difficult. There can be many social issues involved as far as making friends and participating in various group activities. Once school is finished, finding a job can be another challenge. By reason that the person may feel they are not good enough and furthermore may be apprehensive of the interview process.
The emphasis on and portrayal of athletes with a specific body type subordinates both men and women that do not possess that physique.
Women on average have less experience than men (Blau & Kahn, 2013). This statement is over exaggerated. President Obama said, “Women make up about half the workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment.” The 23-cent gender pay gap is simply the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working full-time. It does not account for the differences in occupations, posit...
...body was ideal for reasons such as running faster, swimming better, and excelling at sports such as football; All of the examples listed pertaining to physical performance. They also desired to be tall in order to gain independence from their parents, and be able to do more things on their own. The boys also claimed that being tall would be useful in dangerous situations; For example, some desired a big and tall body to fight and others wanted a skinny and tall body to be able to run away from the danger. Although there was a distinction between the bigger bodies desired, and the overweight bodies, to which they gave perceived negatively. This study helps to explain the key difference between boys and girls in reguards to body image; The girls wanted to be thin in order to be beautiful, yet the boys wanted to be big and tall for reasons related to physical ability.
Vowels and Donald A. Saucier explores how men may also be affected by mass media and body image. 2 studies were done to explore this research. The first study explored different literature about mass media and body image effects and whether they correlate. The study explored different articles from 1806-2005 by searching how the media affects men’s self esteem towards their body. There were 4,324 participants in these articles. The results of this study showed that mass media did have an effect on men’s body image and they did have a correlation. Study 2 explored literatures with experiments on how men’s body image was affected by mass media. The results showed the when men see photos of other men with big muscles they have a negative body satisfaction. This shows that many muscular images do have an affect on men and lowers their self-esteem. This article is relevant for my research because it shows how women are not the only ones whose self-esteem towards their body is affected by the media. Men are also affected. If I would change something about this article it would be to make their own experiment and not explore other
Wage inequalities are not a result of women’s qualifications or choices. Wage discrimination persists despite women’s increased educational attainment, greater level of experience in workforce, and decreased amount of time spent out of the workforce raising children.
The average woman gets paid 77 cents to every dollar that a man with the same job gets paid (Still A Man’s Labor Market). This can be attributed to the affects of discrimination since childhood, including discrimination by the enforcement of societal norms at home, discrimination in education, and finally discrimination in the labor market. All of this labor related discrimination affects women later in life as to whether they have as good of opportunities as others, experience poverty, obtain a secure retirement, and whether single mothers can provide well enough for their children.
It is very important to be concerned about the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women make 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).
Studies of body image in the past have gained varying results as to the groups that are affected, as well as the amount of impact body image has with these groups. There has also been much debate over the validity of methods used to judge body image, and how well the measurements used actually correlate participants’ actual views of body image (Cash, Morrow, Hrabosky, & Perry 2004). Some factors that have led to this discrepancy in answers are questions that were framed to be more suitable to attain the attitudes of one gender over another. The initial studies of body image focused upon simply body shape which seemed to be more important to women, whereas body image affects were seen for men when questions of muscle definition were included into the questionnaire process (Ridgeway, & Tylka, 2005).
Despite government regulations to promote equality within the workplace, women’s salaries continue to lag behind males in similar career with similar experiences. According to research performed by Blau & Kahn (2007) “women salaries averaged about 60% of men’s until the 1970s and rose to nearly 80% by the 1990s” (as cited in Bendick, Jr. & Nunes, 2012, p.244). Today, women on average earn approximately $.81 for every dollar that men earn in the United States (Guy and Fenley P.41 2014).