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Notes -
I think women are substantially less agreeable and less exploitable in at least one important way - they seem less tolerant of toxic “grind” work cultures where 60 hour work weeks are the starting bid and “work life balance” is for pussies, where “passion for your work” and vague promises of probably worthless equity are meant to make up for mediocre base pay.
This makes them less prominent at the sort of companies that make splashy headlines - but I think the women are better off for this.
This is like the argument that affirmative action is good because minorities are often poor and haven't gotten a chance to show their true talent if you look at their school records. If that's why you really want it, you should implement programs that directly help the poor. Doing it this way is obviously insincere.
If we think that 60 hour work weeks are bad, we should require employers not to have 60 hour work weeks, rather than require employers to hire more women on the grounds that women oppose 60 hour work weeks more.
I don’t think I’m arguing what you think I’m arguing.
I don’t believe that raw sexism is at fault for the gender gap, and I am very far from convinced that the gap needs fixing at all. I’m certainly not in favor of mandating either gender quotas OR banning 60 hour work weeks.
Basically, I’m saying that women are less likely to accept shitty working conditions (or more diplomatically, “value promotion/pay at the expense of work balance less”). And I’m not sure they are wrong to do so.
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