A few days ago, The New York Times published the transcript of a debate under the provocative headline: “Have Women Ruined the Workplace?”
The backlash was immediate. The title was later softened to “Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace? And if so, can conservative feminism fix it?”
Yet the message remained: if the modern workplace is in crisis, it must be because of feminism — because women dared to claim equality, flexibility, or fair pay.
This reversal of blame is telling. It exposes a cultural reflex still unwilling to question the real issue: not women’s emancipation, but the workplace’s failure to evolve. The crisis of work today is not the result of women’s presence; it is the result of structures still designed by and for men.
Work designed for men, adapted by women
For decades, feminist thinkers — despite their internal debates — have agreed on one thing: the labour market was built around a male norm of constant availability, uninterrupted career paths, and minimal caregiving responsibilities. Women have been expected to adapt to this model to belong in it.
That adaptation has come at a high price:
- Income inequalities between women and men. Today, women in the EU still earn on average 12.7% less per hour than men, which means that they would need to work 1.5 extra months to make up the difference.
- Reduced wages in sectors dominated by women. Professions with significant social importance, such as care, education, and retail—that predominantly employ women—continue to be some of the least remunerated. The persistent undervaluation of these abilities directly contributes to income inequality.
- Part-time work to “balance” care giving and work
In Europe, nearly 80% of part-time workers are women; 30% of employed women work part-time, compared with just 8% of men. This “choice” is often structural, not voluntary. It slows promotions, depresses lifetime earnings, and compounds the wealth gap.
Direct and indirect paid discrimination based on unconscious bias, discriminatory practices, and patriarchal standards persists broadly in the workplace. Yet, the system continues to expect women to adhere to male-oriented standards instead of adapting the workplace to fit human lives.
#10Novembre11h31: when women work for free
Every year, Les Glorieuses calculates the symbolic moment when women in France begin “working for free” compared with men, based on the national gender pay gap.
In 2025, that moment fell on 10 November at 11:31 a.m.
From that point until year’s end, women effectively work without pay — a powerful reminder that gender pay equality remains far from achieved.
The #10Novembre11h31 campaign calls not for women’s continued adaptation but for a transformation of the workplace itself: policies that recognise care responsibilities, value social professions, and address structural biases that keep women’s wages low.
From symbol to structure: the EU Pay Transparency Directive
In June 2023, the European Union adopted Directive (EU) 2023/970 on Pay Transparency, which must be transposed into national law by June 2026.
It represents a historic attempt to tackle the opacity that sustains unequal pay.
Key measures include:
- Pay transparency in job postings: employers must disclose salary ranges or minimum pay for each position.
- Ban on salary history questions: employers can no longer base offers on a candidate’s past remuneration — a practice that perpetuates inequalities.
- Right to information: employees can request data on average pay levels by category and gender, and on the criteria used to determine pay and progression.
- Accountability for unjustified gaps: if pay reports show a gender pay gap above 5% not explained by objective, gender-neutral criteria, employers must conduct a joint pay assessment and adopt corrective measures.
This Directive does not only create obligations; it reshapes the very logic of remuneration.
Transparent pay systems:
- Strengthen trust and retention among employees.
- Reduce legal and reputational risks for companies.
- Create more resilient economies, where productivity is not achieved at the cost of inequality.
“At the current pace, equality in pay would be reached only by 2167 — 142 years from now” (Les Glorieuses, 2025)
Waiting that long is unacceptable. The EU Directive on Pay Transparency, is a chance to accelerate progress and take a further step towards closing the gap.
Changing the rules, not the players
Blaming feminism for the failures of the workplace is a way of avoiding accountability. The workplace itself must evolve — to reflect the realities of care, life, and diversity that define 21st-century work.Reforming pay structures, valuing “invisible” labour, and supporting parents and caregivers are not feminist luxuries; they are conditions for a fair and functioning economy.
Feminism didn’t ruin work. The old system did. The path forward is not to ask women to adapt — but to make workplaces fair, transparent, and human.