I never said being a stay at home mom was easy. That is certainly a difficult, time consuming, and all too often thankless job. It is also one of the most important jobs known to humanity.

I also never said there were equal numbers of men and women in the IT workforce. Not as many women find the IT lifestyle attractive. It's also a field that changes at such a rapid rate that it's hard for anyone to take a few years off then come back.

I never said women do not take work seriously. I said, and studies have proven, that men tend to make career decisions based on money, while women tend to make career decisons that will earn them a better life. Saying that it's just a 'cultural thing' that men get paid more doesn't change the fact that it's the decisions they make that get them to that point.

Loner - if you do everything the men in your office do, and you have the same (or better) qualifications, and you are being paid less, you need to do something about it. But that's a choice only you can make. I used to work at a university when I started in this field. The pay was horrible, and was the reason I earned less for 2 jobs after that compared to coworkers (some of whom were women!). But the benefits were amazing - full health, dental and vision; unlimited sick days; 24 paid holidays in addition to 2 weeks of vacation; Fridays off in the summer and if you worked any of those holidays you received overtime on top of your normal salary for the day (you got 2.5x your normal pay). My mother in law works at the same university. She complains about the low salary, but when I left and told her I could get her a job at the firm I went to, she didn't want it. She enjoyed all the benefits, and the fact that it was 10 minutes from her house. She made a lifestyle choice that had a negative affect on her financial situation. But it was more important for her to have the time off, etc.

As for doing chores after a long day at the office, I do those too. If I get home before my wife, I cook dinner. On weekends, while she's preparing for a class, I go do laundry. And when we have kids, I look forward to helping with them too. As far as taking time off to take them to the doctor, or pick them up, my wife and I will have to work that out. But I know in my office, when it's crunch time, and everyone is staying, we frown upon the people who leave early regardless of gender.