Today
I want to tell you a little about gender roles and gender differences in
France. I would say that in general, the
French value the importance of work and consider it to be one of the most
important aspects of a person’s life, especially for men (Thébaud, 2010, p.
342). Coinciding with that belief, men
in France earn more, on average, than women (Willsher, 2014). French studies have found that the pay gap
between single men and women is only 9% (Willsher, 2014). That is, the average woman earns 9% less than
the average male in France. Yet, the
gender difference in earnings increases dramatically when examining the pay gap
between couples. French women in a
relationship earn 42% less than their husbands or boyfriends (Willsher,
2014). I see these data in real life
with my own parents. Both work
full-time: My mom is a chef and my dad is an engineer. Nevertheless, my father earns significantly
more that my mother. I think the gap,
both in my parents’ case and in general, has to do with gender role
expectations. Men are expected to be the
breadwinners, and women are expected to stay home and take care of the
children. As I said earlier, my mom took
three years off of work to take care of me when I was little. Although she received her job back after
those three years, she is a brilliant chef and probably could have further
advanced her career during that time instead of it remaining stagnant. Another interesting point is the division of
housework. My mom does the majority of
the housework in my family, but my dad pitches in when he can. I would say in general women do significantly
more housework than men, not unlike the United States.
That
being said, the movement towards gender equality is growing stronger and
stronger and conditions for women in France are much better that some other
European countries. The percentage of
French women that worked outside the home in 2007 was 64.1%, slightly above the
European Union average (“Women in French society today”, 2007). In the past decade and a half, multiple laws
have been passed to combat gender discrimination in the workplace. Most notably is probably the Equal Pay Act,
which was passed in 2006 (“Women”, 2007).
Although the female to male ratio for representation in French
Parliament is only 1:4, laws have been passed to encourage gender equality in
political representation (United Nations Development Programme, 2013;“Women”,
2007).
I
think another interesting aspect of French culture that says something about
gender roles is the view of homosexuality.
In France, same-sex marriage and adoptions for gay couples are
legalized. Nevertheless, a recently saw
a survey saying that France is the most homophobic country in Western
Europe. Nearly 29% of respondents said
that they would not want a homosexual neighbor (Clarke, 2013). I can definitely see this among my
friends. The vast majority of them (and
myself) have no problem with homosexuality, but I do know a few people who
consider it morally wrong. Generally
speaking, I would say that younger people are more accepting of homosexuality
than older people. One of my good
friends is gay, and I know sometimes it can be hard for him. It’s not too uncommon for him to run into
someone who insults him or gives him a menacing look. Still, most people have no problem with it;
in addition, more and more laws are being passed to ensure equal rights for
homosexuals and same-sex couples.
I’ll
finish my post with a video my friends showed me about sexism in today’s
society. The concept of the video is very
interesting: it portrays a society in which the gender roles of men and women
are switched. It’s a bit vulgar, but it
is a very interesting take on the role of gender within French culture.
References
Clarke,
W. (2013, May 17). France least tolerant country in western europe of
homosexuals. The Telegraph. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ europe/france/10065168/France-least-tolerant-country-in-Western-Europe-of-homosexuals.html
Masculinity,
bargaining, and breadwinning: Understanding men’s housework in the cultural
context of paid work. Gender & Society, 24(3), 330-354.
doi:10.1177/0891243210369105
United
Nations Development Programme. 2013. Human
development report. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Willsher,
K. (2014, March 6). French married women earn far less than male partners. The
Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/06/ french-married-women-earn-less-male-partners
Women
in french society today. (2007, March 13). Retrieved from http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Women-in-French-society-todayThébaud,
S. (2010).
