> Note that neither teaching nor parenting are remotely lucrative. The opposite, in fact - my understanding is that much of the income gap is not from managerial discrimination (though that is a factor too, of course) but because of time women spend away from employment to have and support children. I agree that it’s arguably the most important social role but our economic system is upside-down in its valuation of it.
There's more to life than money. In fact the quest to make everyone an office drone has lowered salaries for all workers. It's also lowered women's happiness, eventhough their earning potential has greatly increased:
"Patriarchy" isn't a gendered insult, it's a description of the perceived traits of a social and economic system. But, if you'd prefer, feel free to substitute "Our social system and values" for the word. Regardless of the terminology, the idea that power is held disproportionately by one group in no way implies that every member of that group is purely benefitted by that imbalance. Even as many men reap the benefits of our system, many of us are also harmed by it, as you pointed out. The expectation that women will parent and men will earn money causes a lot of men to miss out on or feel undervalued in parenting roles.
There's more to life than money. In fact the quest to make everyone an office drone has lowered salaries for all workers. It's also lowered women's happiness, eventhough their earning potential has greatly increased:
https://www.nber.org/papers/w14969
> Yes! Patriarchy harms us all.
Please don't do this here. No need to bring in gendered insults. Labeling something that harms men the "patriarchy" is nonsensical.