“Sexist Men Make More Money”

September 23, 2008 / 9:37 am • By Dr. Melissa Clouthier

Well, not exactly. Technically, it’s men with “traditional gender attitudes” make more money. That makes me wonder if men with those attitudes demand more money because their wives don’t work. Or, is it that employers are sexist and pay men with wives at home more because they know the family has one income?

True story: My brother’s boss gave him a raise immediately when he found out that they were pregnant with their first kid and said, “Well, you need to take care of your family now.”

Do men who bear the sole financial responsibility to support the family ask for more money?

Cross-posted at Right Wing News.

Posted in Corrupted Culture • Mind
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  • J David

    A logical, traditional division of labor is not automatically negatively sexist. A man whose wife has trusted him more fully to take care of income, while taking on the duties at home herself have cleared up a lot of distractions. They have removed stressors that affect job performance(and quite likely that group also has a statistically lower divorce rate as well) and the man is accepting full-and-clear responsibility to do the earning, while not having to fight for his place. Men are defined by their jobs, women are defined by their relationships, psychologically, and each have very different natural motivations driving them (as would logically be indicated by the breasts and womb of the one, as opposed to the superior bone-muscle construction, and endurance of the other).

    There is no co-CEO positions in companies, there are no co-presidencies, there is always someone “at the top”, from the nuclear family, on up to head of the country, that finalizes decisions and takes blame or credit for them. Too many people equate the term “leader” to the term “superior” without recognizing it actually just means “person accepting the most responsibility” (for better AND worse)and getting out in front and taking the hits for those they are representing.

    If the guy in front has to spend all his time fighting off attacks upon the authority to make decisions (which are sometimes wrong, as everyone makes mistakes) from those they are trying to be responsible for taking care of, or is being made responsible for extra duties at home, there will come a natural point at which the punishment for accepting the responsibility will overwhelm any accrued/perceived benefits and many will just not have sufficient reason to continue in their position of responsibility.

  • Naqamel

    Motivation counts as well. As sole bread-winner, I’m motivated to continue to improve myself and my job standing in order to better provide for my family.

    There is less room for error when you can’t fall back on your wife’s salary if you screw up at work.

  • http://melissaclouthier.com Dr. Melissa Clouthier

    Naqamel,

    I think you have something there. A relative is a single parent and provider and she, too, has this motivation.

  • jeff

    1)Maybe there is a common factor–like high testosterone–which influences both career success and “traditional gender expectations.”

    2)Guys who sense that they are not on a good career track may be more interested in finding a wife who generates high income.

    3)Since women are usually more attracted to successful guys, those who are succeeding will have more choice and be able to get a relationship of the type they’d like–the less-successful will have to settle for what they can get.

    4)Some women undercut a man psychologically to the point that it really damages his career, and maybe this type is more common among those with “nontraditional” expectations.

  • http://blog.thought-mesh.net Annoying Old Guy

    I was going to write the same thing as Naqamel.

    The squeaky wheel gets the grease and I would bet a big chunk of money on a strong correlation between “traditional gender attitudes” and drive to succeed at work. Talent is great, but speaking as an employee and an employer, motivation counts just as much. I’ll take a moderate talent with a strong drive over a genius with a lackadaisical attitude any day.

  • http://www.reddirtdude.blogspot.com Eric

    As I posted over at RWN:

    Just a guess here (I have not read the report) but I would bet these men probably have a support structure at home that allows them to focus more energy on their job than men (or women) who practice a more modern arrangement in regards to the divison of marital labor.

    Their boss probably won’t ever hear them say they can’t work late because it is their night to cook dinner or buy groceries. They probably won’t ever have to cancel an important meeting because they have to pick up a sick kid at school. They likely won’t spend much time on the phone w/ their spouse during working hours, coordinating daycare pick-up and child transportation issues, and they won’t be fielding calls from their kid who wants to know if he can spend the night at Tim’s house Friday night.

    In short, traditional-gender-values-man can probably be more dedicated to his job than his contemporaries, and that has financial benefits (of course, the same guy loses out on some family experiences that men of a more modern persuasion might get to enjoy).

  • qwerty

    Wow, men who prefer traditional gender roles are “sexist”. Women who are happier in these roles are “sheep” and “spineless”. The great hypocrisy of the political left. And It declares itself to be the messiah of individual freedom and choice.

    Hypocrisy at its peak.

  • http://www.johansens.us Jay

    Hmm, maybe men who do NOT have “traditional gender attitudes” are spineless wimps incapable of making bold decisions and acting on them, and this naturally leads to poorer performance on the job.

    Just a stray thought.

  • Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg

    What’s wrong with ‘sexy’?

  • qwerty

    –spineless wimps incapable of making bold decisions—

    To be exact, these men have been brainwashed and fooled into to the religion of feminism and its founding principle which declares that men are harder women and women are rounded men.