Page 28 - INSIGHT MAGAZINE_Neat

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Barbie’s success

masks women’s

real-world wage

disparity

By Katherine Scott – Troy Media

Barbie is the movie hit of the summer.
By mid-September, box office returns had exceeded $1.4 billion The fact that comparatively few women work in the high-paying
jobs depicted in the movie is one of the primary drivers of the
worldwide – and that doesn’t even account for the revenue from gender wage gap, which harms all women over the course of their
the countless licensing deals Mattel had signed, from Airbnb lives, especially those confronting large barriers to employment.
to Xbox. The company is laughing all the way to the bank, but
women aren’t. While the few women who do work in non-traditional jobs are
Indeed, the movie depicts Barbie Land as a feminist paradise typically earning more than other women, they, too, generally
earn less than their male peers. Female general practitioners
where the supreme court justices, president, and all leading working full-time, full year, earn just 86 cents for every $1 earned
professionals are women. In the real world, women do not run by male GPs, while women lawyers earn just 84 cents on the male
things and don’t earn an equal wage. dollar.
Women have broken into most occupations since the Barbie doll In fact, women up and down the earnings ladder experience pay
was introduced six decades ago, but they remain the minority in gaps, reflecting entrenched systemic bias, the unequal burden of
many of the high-paying roles we see in the movie. In Canada, care and outright discrimination.
only three women made the top 100 CEO list in 2021.
Sixty years ago, women engaged in the paid labour market were Simply put, women’s work isn’t valued as highly as men’s. The
work done by marginalized women workers is valued even less.
concentrated in traditionally “female” occupations, such as
teaching, bookkeeping, and nursing. Not much has changed in Racialized female lawyers working full-time, full year, make 69%
the intervening years. In 2021, many women (54%) were employed of what non-racialized male lawyers make. Racialized female
in just 20 occupations, all involving the “5 Cs”: caring, clerical, cleaners make 85% of non-racialized male cleaners. Highly
catering, cashiering, and cleaning. By contrast, just 19% of men gender-segregate labour markets depress wages for all women,
were employed in the top “female” occupations. but most especially, the earnings of marginalized women.
Barbie has always been positioned as aspirational. All girls can
achieve their economic dreams (and unattainable body ideal) by
the dint of their hard work and scope of ambition.
But “non-traditional” Barbies are in the clear minority, even
today. Fashion models, retail workers of various sorts, and
teachers appear time and again. Cheerleaders, flight attendants,
actresses, and singers too.
Mattel has long understood, and reaped the benefits of, cleaving
to the status quo. This film does not challenge, or question, the
power relations at the heart of women’s economic subordination.
If you see the movie, consider all that’s being debated when we
talk about Barbie. And consider what’s really needed to improve
the quality of women’s jobs and their earnings, particularly for
the most marginalized.
This follows a pattern: Women breaking into male-majority fields
tend to be congregated areas that are seen as inherently or Katherine Scott is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre
essentially female. For instance, only one in 10 women populate for Policy Alternatives and serves as its director of gender
the C-suite, and most are in charge of human resources or the equality and public policy work.
legal department.

28 Winter 2024 www.cambridgechamber.com