Question 1:

Write your thoughts and feelings about the assigned readings for Monday. Try to demonstrate that you have done the reading, and that you can explain it. For interaction points, you can reply to someone's post, to clarify and or explain. Pay attention to the criteria: On time; at least 200 words; thoughtful and substantive; based on the assigned readings; answers the specific question, includes interaction.

Copy this question into your post and answer it: What does Dr. Takaki have to teach us about the contributions of women to the history and culture of the United States? Hint: as much as about men? Much at all? Adrienne Rich: 'What does it mean, when someone with the authority of a teacher tells you about your culture, and you are not in it'

You can write about the Bechdel Test and the Oscars, if you like. If you do, copy this into your post and answer it: What does Hollywood have to teach us about the contributions of women to the history and culture of the United States?

Bechdel Test and the Oscars link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CyhdcMvwEc

Pay Equity

Today we will explore some issues about wage discrepancies between women and men, and between White people and people of color. We'll start with an overview of pay equity data from the US Bureau of the Census, updated in 1995, over a decade ago. This old data is useful to us, to provide a comparison, as many of us think we have made great progress on pay equity. Then, we'll do some research to check the accuracy of the data based on more current statistics. Let's start with some data from the US Bureau of the Census:

- The ratio of women's 1995 median weekly earnings to men's median weekly earnings was 75.5 percent.
- Of the 14 million families maintained by women, 4.2 million (34.6%) were below the poverty level
- Even in traditionally female occupations where women outnumber men, women still earn about $.72 for every $1.00 men earn
Let's look at some historical data, so we can track how pay equity has improved since 1995.

Median Weekly Earnings, Selected Traditionally Female Occupations, 1995

Note: Employment and earnings rates rise with educational attainment for both females and males, but earnings are lower for females than for males with the same education (Median Income of Persons, by Educational Attainment and Sex, year-round, full-time Workers, 1994)

You can check the most current figures at this website for the National Committee on Pay Equity (Links to an external site.)

Start with the Q & A on Pay Equity lin (Links to an external site.)k. I expect that you will, at a minimum, read through the links on the Fact Sheet page.

Check this current data on the US Bureau of the Census (Links to an external site.) website:

If you want to know more, try the Institute for Women's Policy Research (Links to an external site.)
Post your thoughts, questions and feelings about this information in the Discussion Forum.

Question2:

Write your thoughts and feelings about the assigned readings for Tuesday. Try to demonstrate that you have done the reading, and that you can explain it. Pay attention to the criteria: On time; at least 200 words; thoughtful and substantive; based on the assigned readings; answers the specific question, increasingly interactive.

If you cannot explain it, ask questions until you can. If you cannot think of anything to write about, reading in the Discussion posts will help.