Richard Shapiro (rshapiro@BBN.COM) (12/14/89)
An interesting article in today's (13-December) NY Times reported on the job discrimination faced by single men over 30 vis-a-vis married men. On the other hand, single women seem to have an advantage over married women. The reasons are obvious enough, though not for that reason any less depressing. Women are still regarded as being fundamentally home/family oriented -- therefore married women make unreliable employees. On the other hand, married men are regarded as more responsible and reliable because they have a family to support. This kind of thinking dies hard - so long as employers continue to hire on this basis (consciously or not), the pattern will continue since the perceptions are reinforced by the reality of what kind of people do what kind of work. And work being so fundamental to our identities (in the US, at least), these kinds of perceptions have a great deal of significance even outside the realm of hiring practices (eg in our self perceptions of our own roles and relative worth). Something to think about.