In a state where the trad wife aesthetic is sought after, Utah also holds one of the nation’s largest gender pay gaps. This isn’t a coincidence; it is a reflection of culture.
Nationwide, on average, women earn about 84 cents for every dollar earned by men. In Utah, this number drops to 73 cents, according to a recent Utah State University study. This is the second biggest pay gap in the country.
The gap didn’t appear out of nowhere. Utah’s culture has long romanticized traditional gender roles. Women are encouraged to stay at home, bear children and keep up the domestic duties, an ideal coined online as the trad wife aesthetic. One of this movement’s most prominent influencers, Hannah Neeleman, better known as Ballerina Farm, is a resident of Utah.
As the lifestyle gains traction, it may influence how some women define success, whether that be marrying right out of high school or giving up their dream occupation to fit the mold of their potential partner.
What may look like a perfect life to some, in time, reinforces patterns that contribute to lower earning potential for women across the state.
There tend to be many individuals who brush off this pay gap by saying it is a woman’s choice whether or not she stays at home or pursues a career. This “choice” is influenced by constantly seeing “successful” women be the ones who choose family over their job, and take on more traditional gender roles.
“Sociologists may even argue that career preferences emerge in childhood from gender-specific socialization processes,” said Allison Elias, author of “The Rise of Corporate Feminism”.
Utah is known to be home to a vast number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this religion, it is taught that having children is a requisite responsibility, even if this derails a profession.
Growing up in Utah, I assumed it was normal for girls to say they wanted to be stay-at-home moms. I thought every girl married young, often to an older man who had just come home from his two-year LDS mission. As I got older, I realized that it isn’t the norm across much of the country, but in Utah, it is often reinforced by social expectations placed on women.
Thomas S. Monson, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, “It is our solemn duty, our precious privilege — even our sacred opportunity — to welcome to our homes and to our hearts the children who grace our lives.”
When the constant stereotype of “man’s” work and “woman’s” work is being pushed onto the heads of our youth, it turns a choice into a cultural expectation. Everything is heavily influenced by the media they consume, people around them and even the religion they are raised in.
This is not to say women should refrain from having kids. It is instead to push the notion that company polices should be more mother-friendly to help women balance their career and family life. Whether this means having a required child-care system, longer pregnancy leave or better worker-protection for mothers statewide, there are many ways companies can bridge this gap.
Utah’s gender pay gap is not just about the blatant patriarchal wages; it’s a reflection of the societal standards and expectations placed on women before they even enter the workplace.
Until the state addresses and acknowledges that the conversation must be focused on putting forth policies that support both career and families, instead of blaming it on a woman’s choice, the gap will never close.
When an opportunity is influenced by cultural expectations, it becomes less of a choice and more of a societal standard.
