Modern social discourse preaches equality, and for the most part we seem content with what we have achieved — people want to believe we are headed towards social equity. Some forms of inequality, such as race relations, are rightfully admitted as “works in progress” while some — gender inequality — are foolishly assumed to be issues of the past.Modern science presents new challenges to traditionally accepted gender roles and a growing transgendered population demonstrates the fluidity of gender. Yet even the ability to change gender doesn’t allow us to escape old problems since gender discrimination is evolving with the times.In a study published by Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, University of Chicago sociologist Kristen Schilt along with New York University economist Matthew Wiswall found that men who became women earned 32 percent less, on average, after they transitioned.  Women who became men earned 1.5 percent more than they did as their previous gender. These results come after traditional explanations for income inequality — education and race — were accounted for.The respondents in the study had already completed all of their schooling and were fully entrenched in their careers.  Some chose to continue their same career, and others chose to start over as completely new people.Regardless, it’s clear those transitioning to female status were financially punished while those transitioning to being male were rewarded.Social scientists rarely have the opportunity to study the transition of gender on the fly, but this study is an amazing glimpse at the nature of discrimination and income inequality in the U.S.Explanations of why women earn less are varied, though most will agree the idea that women are not equal to men is an antiquated idea . But the fact remains that overall, women earn less than men.For years the idea of the gender-wage gap has been accepted because, despite years of contrary social scientific advancement, most Americans still cling desperately to their sex-based conceptualizations of gender.Many people still believe there are male and female jobs. In the instances that people do accept the fluid nature of gender development, it’s usually only directed at female genders or alternative male genders such as drag queens and the transgendered.For the most part masculinity is still defined by a set of biological characteristics, but traditional masculinity is as much as social construct as any other gender.Traditional masculinity’s development is viewed differently because so much of society has been crafted under the masculine authority that the development of a masculine gender is seen as natural or “the way things are supposed to be.”It appears that way because traditional masculinity’s hegemonic control and ubiquity in American culture make it’s development seem quite natural.  But some cultural practices are examined, we can see the way it often devleops in contrast to other masculinities that are subverted.For example, young boys on playgrounds will frequently refer to each other as “gay” or “fags” to insult each other. Those children most likely have no clue what those words actually mean or where they are derived from, but they know those are not things a boy should be.Further evidence of traditional masculinity’s constructed nature is in its ability to incorporate aspects of other subverted masculine attributes.The metrosexual movement of the early 2000s is a great example of its adaptability. Metrosexual men began caring about their appearances — a strong contrast to traditional masculine conception of men not caring all that much about their grooming habits — in response to the social criticism of traditional masculinity.As a construct, traditional masculinity is a powerful force — the continued existance of a gender-wage gap is a strong example of this. Past examples are easy to see. It’s often difficult to see new conceptualizations and implications of traditional masculinity’s influence.It may be difficult to see in action to the casual eye, but empirical evidence has strongly shown its power .In their 2006 book, “The Declining Significance of Gender,” Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn demonstrate that the average full-time female employee in the U.S. earns about 79 percent of what the average male employee makes.Modern social scientists almost universally treat the gender-wage gap as an issue of blatant discrimination. But those examinations of gender are done in terms of static concepts of gender — the respondents are not transitioning to a completely different gender.This new study shines an interesting light on the adaptablity of gender discrimination. Even in the transition from one gender to another, traditional ideas of masculinity — as evidenced through the existing gender-wage gap — have a strong influence.The study is not perfect by any means, and it may actually raise more questions than it answers. But the study is important because it opens up a world of new inquiry in gender studies and specifically into the nature of gender discrimination.—-Contact Skylar Gremillion at [email protected]