A school district in North Carolina announced it would close its doors Wednesday in expectation of being “shorthanded” amid a strike in honor of International Women’s Day.
Not coincidentally, employees of the school district are 75 percent female.
Conservatives argue that American women possess the freedom and self-determination to pursue any career they choose in today’s society. Feminists, on the other hand, continue to argue that society pushes women into perceivably feminine professions (like teaching), imposing socially-constructed gender norms on girls from birth that shape and restrict their choices into adulthood.
The implication is that more women become teachers because societal gender norms pressure them to do so.
That argument is relevant because the alleged wage gap this strike on Wednesday is protesting is explained partially by women’s persistent pattern of concentrating in lower wage professions.
So here’s the question: Do the female teachers striking tomorrow believe they made the choice to become educators freely? Or do they believe they were forced into the profession by oppressive gender norms?
My guess is they’re proud to be teachers and believe they selected their career freely as empowered, contemporary women.
These strikers should learn something from their own example.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
