The explanation as I understand it is that it's supposed to be a girl standing up to the inequality of pay etc for women in the workforce with the girl representing equality for women against the bull representing the "tradition of inequality in the workforce".
The myth that refuses to die...that there are businesses that pay women less than men for doing the same job.
Yep - it was true at one time, no longer.
IIRC, more women are now graduating from college than men. Do we need to have a "Men's March"?
Unfortunately, a gullible public has been manipulated on this issue. I could point out several speeches from prominent people that follow this format:
" A study shows that women make 77 cents on the dollar compared to men" [end of sentence, next sentence]:
" We need to fight for equal pay for equal work for women!" [end of sentence, next sentence]:
" We will no longer tolerate the inequality of women making 77 cents on the dollar compared to men" [end of sentence].
The manipulation there is they make it appear that sentence #2 is related to sentences #1 and #3, and that the study shows that the 77 cent figure is for equal jobs. The study referenced was
not about "equal pay for equal work", it was simply a study of pay for men and women who work more than 30 hours a week. The studies that are done for equal jobs show almost zero difference (probably with a margin for error for any kind of study like this), especially for recent hires, in fact it might even be reversed at this point.
That's a very dangerous kind of bias, one that people don't even realize is being thrown at them.
And be careful what you wish for. A good part of the difference in hourly wage is because, traditionally, men take more high paying, but dangerous jobs (construction, roofing, etc). So if we want equal pay for women, are we saying we want more women injured on the job? I'd say this evidence, like the song says
"Woman is smarter than man in every way!".
The Whitehouse was confronted on this "equal pay" issue a few years back - turns out the women on the Whitehouse staff made less than the men! And the press secretary babbled on about time in the position, experience , etc, etc, accounts for the difference. Exactly!
edit to add: My two daughters are now in the work force. There is ZERO difference in pay for men/women in those jobs. In one case, it's a municipal position, pay is made public, and regulated by contract. There is nothing in the contract that states "Male/Female" for pay levels. My other daughter is making good money as a nurse, a traditional female job, but it pays well. She's not complaining.
-ERD50