Dr. Sara DiazWGST 303: The *isms: Race, Class, and GenderGonzaga University

Masculinity & Capitalism

Women’s Wages

• In 2010, women earned 77 cents of every dollar that men earned, unchanged since 2006.

• 1963 women earned 59 cents of every dollar men earned.

Which Women?

All Women

White

Women

Black W

omen

Asian Americ

an W

omenLa

tina0

20

40

60

80

100

2009 Average Annual Earnings as % of White Male

Female Dominated Fields

Women Men GWG

Maids $371 $436 85.1%

Secretaries $614 $736 83.4%

Registered Nurses $1011 $1168 90.4%

Elementary Teacher $871 $994 87.6%

Ticket Agent $537 $752 71.5%

Productive Work

• For mainstream economists the “productive economy” is:

Characterized by monetary exchanges through trade, the organization of work, distribution and marketing of goods, contracts, negotiation of wages and salaries, and so forth.

• For our purposes “productive work” will be paid labor.

At Home “Care” Work

• Gendered Division of Labor• Assumption behind the productive economy is

that there is someone (a wife) at home taking care of the domestic sphere so that the worker (gendered male) can be productive.• Laundry, food procurement and cooking,

home maintenance, bills/accounts, child rearing, elder care

• This produces a “second shift” or “double day” for women workers who often are the wife.

Reproductive Economy

• This domestic labor includes biological and social reproduction, mainly done by women, to maintain daily life, raise children, care for elders, and so on. • It is often considered “unproductive”

because it is unwaged, but it is fundamental to the ability to do wage work.