Exploiting The Gender Gap By Warren Farrell Summary

Gender Discrimination and Wage Disparity

In “Exploiting the Gender Gap” Warren Farrell argues that the issue of disparity between men and women’s wages does not exist. Farrell provides multiple statistics and research that contradict the ever prominent “fact” put out by the media that women are paid less than men. He then covers a range of personal examples that strengthen his argument. He, subsequently, moves beyond the simplicity of wage disparity and brings the focus of his attention to the focus on discrimination.

The first point that Farrell makes is that out of the number of working women that have families the majority tend to choose to work jobs that have more convenient and consistent hours. On the contrary, the majority of working men with families tend to choose to work longer and more sporadic hours. To back this up, Farrell reveals a statistic from the Rochester Institute of Technology that explains the motivation of men and women in the work force.

The second point that Farrell provides is that men have a tendency to decide on pursuing higher paying

careers such as surgeons, for example, while women pursue careers such as general practitioners, which are lower paying jobs. He examines examples from his own experience as a college professor to provide a personal connection with his audience in order to back his statement up. Farrell then transitions into a discussion on certain jobs that are almost exclusively built for men or women. He provides many examples that show this to be true and also shows that sometimes the discrimination can be against men in certain jobs. Farrell then concludes by bringing his argument full circle and focuses decisively on the world’s focus as discrimination as a whole, and that this focus is in fact hindering the advancement of women. In its entirety, Farrell’s argument is persuasive, because he clearly states multiple data sources to back up his claims as well as show both sides of the argument.
Granted, the tone Farrell uses throughout his article is mostly one of condensation towards those who believe that there is a pay gap in the work force between men and women that is based primarily off of gender. Also, Farrell uses a lot of generalization when explaining what men and women want from a job. Thus he makes it seem that every member of a certain gender group wants the same thing from their careers, like more family time for women and more money for men.
When taking a deeper look into Farrell’s article you can discover the thesis that it contains. Although it is not explicitly stated, the thesis that is implied is that women are not unfairly paid in the work force, contrary to what the media says. He develops his thesis by first presenting a question he asked himself about whether the wages of women were unequal to those of men and then follows up by researching and finding facts about the real story of the average wage for each gender. Farrell’s proceeds to support his thesis by presenting these numerous facts and statistics in a way that is convincing and understandable.
Throughout the article, Farrell uses many words and phrases that reveal his undertones.

Probably the most evident of these words and phrases is his constant use of the word discrimination. He uses it many times to present statistics that prove that the opposite of discrimination is what is actually true. His use of discrimination comes full circle when he ends his article with the sentence, “But only by abandoning our focus on discrimination against women can we discover these opportunities for women.” Also, Farrell repeatedly states in one form or another that comparing women and men in the workplace is like “comparing apples and oranges.” In conclusion, throughout the entire article Farrell implies with the way he sarcastically talks about discrimination that if you think there is discrimination in the work place, then you are necessarily ignorant to facts, because of your focus on

discrimination.
In conclusion, Farrell provides a very well thought out and organized argument to support his thesis. Although he does use sarcasm and condensation throughout his writing, Farrell keeps the point he is trying to make very clear. The article is thought provoking and is inspirational to the reader to do research on the side to find the true cause of the wage gap between men and women, if it even exists.