I heard Rush Limbaugh mention this MSNBC article which says that women are absent from work more often than men.
And, according to the story, even women without children are absent more often than men are. There's no explanation given for why women miss more than men, but some of the usual memes are brought up: women have to take care of sick kids, women do all the housework, women are more frail. Oops. I just made up that last one.
No, the article didn't say women are less healthy than men. That might be a charge that would have feminists up in arms. Instead, it trotted out a lot of tired, unsubstantiated blather.
Making assumptions on why women call in sick can be detrimental to the advancement of women in the workplace, says Eric Patton, an assistant professor of management at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
As part of his research on how workplace absence is perceived, Patton studied a century’s worth of New York Times articles that dealt with the issue. He found 3,000 articles on the topic.
“Whenever it was an article about women’s absenteeism it was about gender. If it was about men and absenteeism, gender was not brought up,” he says.
That focus on gender, he adds, has created a situation where co-workers and managers expect women to be absent more often, and that, in turn, can creates an air of unreliability around female employees.
I doubt seriously that employers and coworkers are going to read this story and think, "Yep, that's why Mabel's out so much. She's a woman!" I think they will probably think that Mabel's out every Monday because she's skipping work.
The best part of the article came close to the end.
(Author Christopher) Flett acknowledges that women carry most of the responsibilities at home, whether caring for ill children or aging parents. But he believes women can be their own worst enemies in the workplace because they feel the need to give managers too much information. “Women will often make excuses for why they’re not coming to work, which opens them up to the alpha males that keep them out of the corner office.”
He suggested that women should keep their personal lives to themselves. “If a woman needs a sick day, take one without telling people your kid is ill, or you need to take care of your sister. It’s no one's business why you’re taking the day off,” he adds.
In other words, if women would just shut up about their personal lives while they are at work, no one would notice when they are absent. As cruel as that sounds, there's some truth to the idea that one's personal life doesn't necessarily belong around the water cooler. Sure, confide in your best friend, but leave the details of your home life at home (full disclosure: I've discussed personal stuff with coworkers, too. It still isn't a smart thing to do).
I'm certain this is all just Teh Patriarchy keeping women sick and out of work. I bet Amanda would agree.
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