All salary studies show that on average, women still make about 75 cents to the dollar for men in the same jobs, and men are still more likely to be promoted to higher paying jobs than women.

well, there is still a lot of sexism in the workplace (i'm an engineer, i deal with it every day). women generally get paid less than men, sometimes miss out on promotions, and there are still jobs that are considered primarily men's jobs, even though there's no reason women can't do them. women are still encouraged to stay at home with children rather than go out and use their minds and be independent, and those that do are considered odd.

If men were the ones who dealt with the bulk of childcare and childrearing, then I'm sure men would be the ones with the lower saleries. Why would an employer pay the same amount for somebody who has to take more days off (to care for a sick child) or leave work early (to tend to their child's other needs) as they would for a male, who can stay at the job all day long.

In today's society where? I'm too tired to type out a full answer, but I will give this link. I strongly suggest that you read it as a mere beginning to the issues that still exist. [wrong link, someone remind me to come out here and post the correct one] I had to put this one in the answer: Oh, and here is where it is LESS of a crime to rape your wife in 33 US states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spousal_rape Yup, if my husband rapes me, it is less of a crime than if a stranger does it...even though they've both violated my body against my will. http://marriage.about.com/cs/maritalrape/f/maritalrape10.htm

They still don't have has many stalls in the ladies' as they seem to need, even though most department stores, etc. have fourteen to sixteen, plus handicapped and "baby changing" stalls. They have done this at great expense. Yet, women are offended by any other type of "convenience" for only peeing. The men's usually have only three stalls at most. The other conveniences are much simpler and more numerous. I don't know how this "inequality" can be legislated. >> And women do miss a great deal more time from work than men do, for all kinds of reasons. They are also much less represented in the more heavy and dangerous types of work which naturally receive a higher pay in most cases. They are also not usually as "tenured" as men are in traditionally male jobs. They simply have not been doing them as long as most of the males and have less seniority. >> As to academics and professions, women are doing as well as the men,...at least those who are in them.

There is no claim, just many smaller individual situations coupled with larger structural problems. The answers here have already covered many of them, but it's worth mentioning that you still get a common attitude here (in Western Australia) that it's better to have a male boss than a female boss because women are more 'emotional'. You can imagine how hard that must make it for women to advance to higher paying jobs.

In Western culture there are ways in which the genders aren't equal. Women are extremely under represented in the nastiest and most dangerous work, like trash collectors and oil fire fighters. But as for income studies mentioned here, there are also studies that suggest that this is, at least partly, due to choice or positive aggressiveness. In Law, women often take jobs with lower pressure, lower hours, and less pay. Men are far more likely to ask for a raise or promotion than women, to negotiate for higher pay at the time of hiring, and when women do as, men tend to ask for more. All these factors would end up showing that women earn less money for similar jobs, get promoted less and yet would have nothing to do with inequality.

i'm a system engineer. i do troubleshooting and maintainance (and operation) of pneumatic and hydraulic systems.

Feminists are not satisfied with equal opportunity. They want equal outcome, even when they make different choices that cannot possibly lead to the same outcome as men, on average. They want to choose to spend years at home with the kids, commute less, travel for work less, and work less overtime, but still get paid the same.

They're not equipped to use the urinals.

For some of the feminists I've talked with, it's because their definition of equality between the sexes is not realistic. For example: A woman can do anything a man can do. This is a broad statement that simply is NOT true in all aspects. ONE man cannot do everything ALL other men can do and ONE woman cannot do everything ALL other women can do, so why would I believe this for women in this respect? Men certainly aren't the equal of women in all aspects. For example, not all men have the upper body strength necessary to be a steel mill worker. By the same token, not all women have the upper body strength to be a steel mill worker either. And for some of the feminists I've talked to, this point is irrelevant and they continue to insist the women are the equals to men in all ways, physical and otherwise. Well, they are NOT, no more than men are the equals of women in all ways. Personally, I believe that men and women are COMPLIMENTARY. We each have characterisitics that combine well with each other. Men, for the most part, have the edge in upper body strength and physical endurance. Women, for the most part, have the edge in balance, in precision, and patience. Equal rights under the law for women is the REAL goal for feminists. And to that end, I totally agree. If a woman meets the physical requirements for a particular job, such as a steel mill worker, then she should be considered just as fairly as a man. Now, with that said, the demographics showing the placement of women and their incomes as compared to the placement of men and their incomes for similar jobs DOES show a disparity where women lag behind the men in employment and income. It's FAR better than it used to be, but they still lag behind men. So they have some just cause for their statements.

Because we're not. Even today, we're still expected to be 24 hour a day slaves to our husbands and families. And I thought slavery was abolished in the 1860s.

Well, let me tell you what I have observed and experienced: Women aren't taken as seriously as men because they're considered to be more emotional If a woman is angry, people automatically assume she's on her period If a woman has a lot of sex or talks about sex, she is viewed as gross or "unclean", whereas in men, it's expected If a woman dresses in clothing that's at all revealing, many people think she "deserves" it if she gets sexually harassed or raped If a woman has a "male" interest (like, say, she wants to learn how to fence or something), she is either laughed at, judged, or considered "not womanly".

Because they want equal outcome not equal results. They want equal pay without doing equal work.