7/22/2009
I am serious...and don't call me Shirley.
So it’s time to pop my wedding ring off…I’m kind of back on the market.
Steady your breathing, boys. I meant to say that I’m preparing to re-enter the job market (this is merely a preventative maneuver…much like a colonoscopy. Seth is looking for a new job, so I want to have several irons in the fire if we have to move. If I left my current job, it would have to be the perfect opportunity, so I'm being very selective in my applications). Some women give me an awful/hateful/disgusted look when I tell them that I don’t wear my wedding ring to job interviews. Believe me, it’s not in an attempt to seduce the interviewer…
Kerry winks “seductively.”
Interviewer: Is everything okay? What’s wrong with your face?
I’m nearing 28 years-old and I’m married. My female peers have either spawned, or will soon spawn. They are far more likely to use family leave, use sick time, and leave precisely at 5 to collect their offspring at daycare. These are in fact, the perceived average characteristics of married, college-educated females in my cohort. …and I support those life choices. That may very well describe me in the next few years…but…
Why would I willingly give a visual cue of my marital status that may incite statistical discrimination?
If I choose to tell a potential employer that I am married (which I almost always do, by the way), I like that it’s my choice. I’m not out to deceive people; that’s not an effective way to build a relationship. Being a married, late twenty-something should have nothing to do with my ability to perform a job. Seth and I have discussed this at great length and are in full agreement.
Of course, part of me feels that I’ve taken one too many labor economics courses. …or read too much about women in the workforce. I mean, why would I want to work somewhere that discriminates against working mothers? Truth be told, if it comes down to all other things being equal (education, experience, etc.), I don’t want any reason to lose an opportunity to a single, childless candidate. And for you skeptics out there, I hope you realize that ultimately, this is all in good fun. My marriage to Seth is so unique and enjoyable because we love to hypothesize about these kinds of things. It would seem silly not to follow through with the social experiment.
What do you think? Am I way off base here? Has the business world changed so much in the past 20 years (in support of working women) that these kinds of shenanigans are no longer necessary? Is it so common now to have children out of wedlock, or be a young divorcee that wedding rings are no longer signals of potential bambinos? With the ‘bread-winner’ mentality still so prevalent for men, do you think it would be better for a man to portray himself as married? Or single? Should I dress in drag to further squash the idea of any statistical discrimination based on gender (I have the shoulders to pull it off)?
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Steady your breathing, boys. I meant to say that I’m preparing to re-enter the job market (this is merely a preventative maneuver…much like a colonoscopy. Seth is looking for a new job, so I want to have several irons in the fire if we have to move. If I left my current job, it would have to be the perfect opportunity, so I'm being very selective in my applications). Some women give me an awful/hateful/disgusted look when I tell them that I don’t wear my wedding ring to job interviews. Believe me, it’s not in an attempt to seduce the interviewer…
Kerry winks “seductively.”
Interviewer: Is everything okay? What’s wrong with your face?
I’m nearing 28 years-old and I’m married. My female peers have either spawned, or will soon spawn. They are far more likely to use family leave, use sick time, and leave precisely at 5 to collect their offspring at daycare. These are in fact, the perceived average characteristics of married, college-educated females in my cohort. …and I support those life choices. That may very well describe me in the next few years…but…
Why would I willingly give a visual cue of my marital status that may incite statistical discrimination?
If I choose to tell a potential employer that I am married (which I almost always do, by the way), I like that it’s my choice. I’m not out to deceive people; that’s not an effective way to build a relationship. Being a married, late twenty-something should have nothing to do with my ability to perform a job. Seth and I have discussed this at great length and are in full agreement.
Of course, part of me feels that I’ve taken one too many labor economics courses. …or read too much about women in the workforce. I mean, why would I want to work somewhere that discriminates against working mothers? Truth be told, if it comes down to all other things being equal (education, experience, etc.), I don’t want any reason to lose an opportunity to a single, childless candidate. And for you skeptics out there, I hope you realize that ultimately, this is all in good fun. My marriage to Seth is so unique and enjoyable because we love to hypothesize about these kinds of things. It would seem silly not to follow through with the social experiment.
What do you think? Am I way off base here? Has the business world changed so much in the past 20 years (in support of working women) that these kinds of shenanigans are no longer necessary? Is it so common now to have children out of wedlock, or be a young divorcee that wedding rings are no longer signals of potential bambinos? With the ‘bread-winner’ mentality still so prevalent for men, do you think it would be better for a man to portray himself as married? Or single? Should I dress in drag to further squash the idea of any statistical discrimination based on gender (I have the shoulders to pull it off)?
