I Have A Dream…

On Cultural Tuesday, I’m not going to write about anything about pop-culture. I’m going to get a wee bit serious and write about big topics today like gender equality. First a disclaimer, these are my own opinions only, I’m not claiming them to be the truth and the only truth. Most things in this world, they have more than one perspective, but usually, only one perspective can be surveyed and measured. So I cordially ask you to keep an open mind and go on a little imaginary adventure with me on these topics. 😛

– I suck at debates –

The inspiration to write this post today stemmed from a little debate I had in a group chat in which in addition to yours truly has a man and a woman in it. It all began with the woman saying how tired she was, and probably was because of PMS. To that, the man replied that men have it easier, and to my ear, there was a hint of condescending tone in his reply. As humor is my shield and weapon towards almost anything in life, I jokingly said that ‘yup, men even get paid more, except in the porn industry.’ And obviously, my not-exactly-untrue statement got a much stronger reaction that I was actually expecting. He demanded actual proof from me that men get paid more than women. At this point, I guess the majority of women are already triggered. 😀 He went on showing me that at least in Finland, while the difference in salary between women and men is around 16-17%, the actual percentage is much smaller. Studies showed that the salary of women and men when doing the exact same job, their salary difference is only tipping at 1,6 %, in men’s favor. Well, good for you, Finland, good job. For him, this number with an almost non-existent difference, it doesn’t lie. In Finland at least, women and men get the same salary for doing the same job. Even that sentence, ‘same job, same salary’, even if it’s true according to the numbers, doesn’t sit well with me at all. Right off the bat, it sounds like we are equal, men and women, at least in salary. But is it equality?