Convergent Evolution: Malar Stripes & Eye Black

Note: Influenced by Eye Black: What Works for Football Players Works for the Cheetah



Look at these two pictures. Do you see any similarities?

Figure 1. Falcon

Figure 2. Cheetah

  In case you didn't catch it, both the cheetah and the falcon have dark 'tear stains' running from their eyes down to their cheeks. How and why did this characteristic come about? They are both different species. In this post I will go over a concept called convergent evolution and why you see similar traits in unrelated species. Convergent evolution is "the independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineages. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures/traits that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups." A simple example of this would be flight. Birds, bats, and insects all have independently evolved the capacity of flight. Even though they acquired this structure independently, their separate ancestors may have lived in very similar environments (more predators on the ground, less resources in one location). Individual ancestors of the bird, bat, and insect population who could fly were able to survive compared to the one's who couldn't which led them to reproduce more and eventually the ancestral bird, bat, and insect species evolved with the adaptation of flight.

Cheetah, Falcons, and Gazelle: Malar Stripes

 When looking at the big cats, the "tear drops" are unique to cheetahs. These tear stains or malar marks help the cheetah see in sunny environments (while hunting especially). The marks help by reducing glare and keeping the sun out of their eyes. Cheetahs are primarily diurnal hunters that spot prey at long distances (can see up to 3 miles) and rely more on vision than other senses. Not only do cheetahs have an eye retinal fovea that take an elongated shape - which influences how they view their surroundings, but the cheetah's malar stripes also enhance and improve their vision, ultimately effecting their hunting strategies.

  The color black absorbs a lot of light and gives off way less visible light than it absorbs (emits a lot of UV and infrared). In the cheetah's case, the black tear stains absorb sunlight, protecting their eyes during hunting and can act as an anti-glare surface. "In physics, a black body is a perfect absorber of light, but, by a thermodynamic rule, it is also the best emitter." A method to keep heat/glare from the sun away is by using black paint (football/baseball) or having black tear stains near the eyes for cheetahs. The black stains on a cheetah improves their vision by reducing contrast sensitivity and absorbing light/wavelengths that produce glare.

  Cheetahs are also compared to birds of prey in how great their vision is. Falcons also have malar stripes/tear stains, which help increase the accuracy of their vision because they also must be able to spot prey from large distances in sunny conditions that produce glare. Malar stripes are not only important for hunting, but general vision in sunny environments. The darker the malar stripe the more light it absorbs and the more thermal radiation it emits (i.e. Infrared so it's both the best absorber and the best emitter).

  Cheetahs prey on animals that also have the malar stripe: gazelles and Impala. A hypothesis that has been stated is co-evolution; an arms race. Cheetahs evolved the malar stripes which helped them become better hunters, so gazelle and other grass-feeding animals (that the cheetahs prey on), may have evolved the tear stains to look out for predators. Since cheetahs can see very well from long distances, the gazelle who had malar stripes may have been able to spot them in a sunny, 'full of glare' environment and were able to survive and reproduce in comparison to the ones who didn't have this mutation/trait. Thus, becoming an evolutionary trait in gazelle and impala.

Figure 3. Gazelle with malar stripes 

'Eye Black' in Sports

Now did football and baseball get the "eye black" from cheetahs?

Figure 4. Athletes who play in sunny outdoor conditions are seen wearing "eye black" (football, baseball, sometimes soccer).

 Who knows! It could've been that or it could've been that only a certain thing works for a certain situation. Athletes who have to catch, throw, hit something and are in a sunny environment will experience glare from the sun. That's not good if a team is relying on someone to catch a baseball or a football. Wearing eye black may tone down the glare one experiences. The black stripes can enhance contrast sensitivity by improving the eye's ability to distinguish between light and dark colors. In other words, increased contrast means an individual can see in greater detail. This is exactly what occurs with cheetahs when they hunt. When tracking a ball going at a very high speed, one must eliminate any distractions. One of the greatest distractions is the sun.

  In conclusion, different, unrelated species may have acquired analogous traits most likely due to similar environments. In this post, I compared the convergent evolutionary trait of malar stripes seen in both cheetahs and falcons (includes some other birds of prey) who are diurnal, long distance hunters, occupying sunny environments. The gazelle (one of the cheetah's prey) also has malar stripes which is more likely due to an arms race or co-evolution. Since both the gazelle and cheetah share the same sunny, glared environment, it is more beneficial for the gazelle to have these stripes to reduce glare which may assist them in spotting predators (especially cheetahs) from a distance.

  Football players and baseball players are sometimes seen with 'eye black' that may act similarly to the malar marks of cheetahs and falcons. Considering that black is a great absorber and emitter, using a sort of black paint may help reduce glare for individuals who need to catch, pitch and hit. 

Gender Wage Gap: Discussing trends, patterns and variables that affect the gender wage gap

Introduction

  There has been intensive research on the gender wage gap, yet much of the research has yielded different results. For example, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2016), in 2015 female full-time workers made only 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20 percent. However, a 2009 Report by CONSAD Research Corporation stated that the gender wage gap is quite narrow compared to other findings: between 4.8 and 7.1 percent. Why is it that we see different percentages of the wage gap? The reason we see wider gaps or narrower gaps is due to what variables are being controlled for. In the Women’s Policy Research data, the authors didn’t control for any variable except for “full-time employee.” This can result to a larger wage gap for several reasons. One reason is that type of occupation was not controlled for. Being a full-time carpenter versus a full-time physician will affect the wages of both men and women. Likewise, a full-time college professor will have higher wages than a full-time high school teacher. Another issue with the data was that not only did it take median wages for full-time men and full-time women without controlling for occupation, but they also didn’t specify the amount of hours each employee worked. Working full-time does not necessarily mean someone must work the maximum full-time hours. Companies commonly require from 35 to 40 hours per week to be defined as full-time (United States Department of Labor, 2016), and if an employee works 40 hours and another employee works 50 hours a week, then that will affect wages. In the CONSAD (2009) report, the researchers controlled for variables such as human capital variables (schooling and work experience), the family division of labor, compensating wage differentials, and gender differences in occupation. They also controlled for career interruption among workers with specific gender, age, and number of children. CONSAD (2009) stated, “Statistical analysis that includes those variables has produced results that collectively account for between 65.1 and 76.4 percent of a raw gender wage gap of 20.4 percent, and thereby leave an adjusted gender wage gap that is between 4.8 and 7.1 percent.” The main and probably the most important reason we see percentage differences of the wage gap across many studies is due to what is being controlled for. Taking the average wages of male employees and female employees will create a larger wage gap due to employees working different hours, whether or not they are full-time or part-time, which occupation they’re in, whether or not they take time off for family reasons (sick spouse, children), negotiation and many other factors. The more factors being controlled for, the narrower the wage gap gets.

  In this post, I will discuss an overview of the wage gap and show that when controlling for many factors, the wage gap narrows by quite a lot. The variables that contribute to narrowing the wage gap are family status, gender differences in occupation, hours worked, human capital variables (education, age, and experience), salary negotiation, and differences in benefit coverages. There are still many factors that can influence the narrowing of the wage gap and although discrimination may be a possible factor of it, controlling or measuring every person’s individual decision could be difficult to accomplish. Since all possible factors cannot be fully controlled, we do not see the gender wage gap closing. We do however see the gap narrow down when controlling for the factors listed above.

Family Status

One important factor that affects the wage gap is family status of both men and women. With single men and single women (no kids), the wage gap is generally less than 10%, meaning that single women earn more than 90% of what single men make (Polachek & Xiang, 2014). This does not take into account occupation type and experience. When looking at age ranges and higher paying jobs (executive/director positions), women and men at earlier ages (20-35), hold a similar percentage of director positions, but after 35 the gap widens (Payscale, 2005). This is shown in Figure 1. Although Payscale (2005) mentioned that education and experience may affect the opportunity gap or wage gap, that doesn’t seem to fully explain why younger women are holding similar or the same positions as men in certain fields. It’s around the age of 35 where we see the gap widen.

Figure 1 shows that at the start of their career, men and women hold similar amount of Director level positions, then widens at around 35, and then shrinks again at the age of 50. Source: Payscale (2005)

 One factor that isn’t mention is family status and whether or not the woman is married and has younger children. There is a slight decrease in the gap after the age of 50 which could be due to the fact that someone’s child or children at that age are less dependent on the mother or the parents, thus allowing women to obtain director level positions. Women who have younger children may have to make certain sacrifices to ensure that their child is being taken care of.

  Although single women and single men hold similar positions and the gap between their earnings are very narrow, Married women earn less than married men. There is a 30-40% wage gap between married women and married men (Budig and England, 2001). When looking further into that statistic it is shown that married women with children earn less than married women without children (Harkmess and Waldfogel, 2003).  This may be due to the fact that the mother takes time off to be with the child especially if there isn’t child care available. Regardless of why the mother chooses to take time off of work (in regards to the child), there is a trend that married women make less than single women (Budig and England, 2001).  Also, married women who space their births widely apart receive even lower wages (Polachek, 1975) than women who have children around the same time.  This may be due to the fact that there is longer investment in both children since the mother will most likely take maternity leave for the first child to breast feed and be with the child for x amount of time and then will have to do this again years later. Waldfogel (1998) shows that having children lowers a women’s pay by about 10%, after controlling for age, education, experience, race, ethnicity and marital status. Budig and England (2001) find about a 7% wage penalty per child.

  Not only do women on average take maternity leave (at least 6 weeks) to be with their children for the most essential part of the infant’s life, but they also tend to delay entering the workforce or go back part time to pick up the child from a child care center, relieve the babysitter, nurse the baby, and most importantly let their body physically heal from the birth process (Enz et al. n.d). Taking time off and coming back right away as a part-time employee will affect earnings if the mother was full-time before. Becker’s (1985) analysis focused on the longer hours that mothers tend to spend in activities listed above including taking care of the child, and found that these responsibilities (when controlling for hours) could reduce the effort that they put into their market jobs, and thus decreasing their hourly wages compared to men. Family status is one of the main factors that narrow the wage gap.

Gender Differences in Occupation

  Occupation type is another measurable variable of the wage gap. Gender differences in occupation are shown to make up 50 and 60 percent of the raw gender wage gap (CONSAD, 2009).  If for example, someone is a high school teacher versus a mechanical engineer, one will see a wage gap no matter what the sex of the individual is. If the teacher is a male and the mechanical engineer is a female, the mechanical engineer would most likely earn more than the teacher (if controlling for hours worked). When looking at occupational differences around the United States and other western societies, there is a larger gap between what males go into versus females (World Bank, 2011). When looking cross-culturally, especially in underdeveloped countries and Islamic states, the gap between occupation choice between men and women decrease substantially (World Bank, 2011).

Figure 2 Women in Tanzania enter the agriculture work force at a greater amount than women in Brazil. This may be due to economic patterns and growth. Source: WDR 2012 team estimates based on the International Income Distribution Database (I2D2).

  In Figure 2 above, it shows the female occupation difference between a low income country (Tanzania) with a GDP per capita of $439 and a middle-income country (Brazil) with a GDP per capita of $4,399. This graph illustrates the effect on occupation type women go into when considering economic growth (World Bank, 2011). In Tanzania versus Brazil, women are more likely to go into the field of agriculture. Although agriculture is one of the bases of both countries’ economy, fewer women choose to go into agriculture in Brazil. Why is this the case? Since Tanzania is still a developing country, agriculture is still a main component of the country’s growth (Haugen, 2009).  Agriculture is responsible for three quarters of merchandise exports and gives jobs to about 80 percent of the population. Agricultural income is the main source of income for the poor, especially in rural areas (Sarris, et al., 2006).

  Not only do we see similarities in the fields that men and women go into in developing countries, but when looking at some Islamic states such as Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia, there is a trend showing more women going into a science based field (American Sociological Association, 2011) narrowing the gap between men and women going into science fields.

Figure 3 shows the percentage of women who graduated with science degrees depicted by the light green bar. Source: UNESCO Data Center, 2010

  Figure 3 shows the number of female graduates and the percentage of women who graduated with a science degree. The most women who graduated with a science degree (more than 50%, closer to 70%), were women in Islamic states. When comparing these numbers to women in western societies such as the US, the numbers differ (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). Even though women receive more graduate degrees in the health and biological sciences as depicted in Figure 4 below, women make up less than 50% in the other sciences: Chemists and materials scientists (36.1%), Environmental scientists and geoscientists (27.5%), all other physical scientists (41.4%) (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). A flaw in Figure 3 above is that it does not show the type of science degree women in Islamic states graduate with. However, even if we consider this to be an average, women in Islamic states have passed the 50% mark. Does this mean that places such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have achieved gender equality in the fields that women and men go into? Not exactly. This somewhat relates to the reason why there are similarities in the field men and women go into in developing countries. One factor to why women in these Islamic states enter the STEM fields more often than women in western societies such as the US is because in these states, fields are limited. There are over 90 fields of study options ranging from physics to women studies at the prestigious university of Yale located in the US, and only 76 fields of study options at one of the well-known universities of Iran - Shiraz University - that mostly focus on biological and environmental science, physical science (chemistry, physics), engineering, business, finance, economics, education and law. The closest social science field they offer (excluding psychology) is sociology. Due to the limited amount of choices compared to a US university, Iranian women may decide to go into the most prominent field at the university which is mostly a STEM field. Also, another reason why women may go into the STEM fields more in Iran than the US may be due to the fact that in a more developing country (World Economic Situation and Prospects, 2012) where certain occupations receive the most income or will help one provide for their family, they might choose those fields.

As noted before, universities in the United States provide more options than developing countries or Islamic states. In this case, more options may mean more freedom in what to choose. If a woman in the United States decides to go into ethnic studies rather than engineering, that’s their decision to do so and they have the freedom to do so. However, this may mean that when you control for hours, someone who is an engineer for a company may earn more than someone who may be a teacher or professor for ethnic studies. Countries that don’t offer many fields in the humanities such as gender, women, and ethnic studies and specialize more in STEM related fields may see an increase in participation and graduation in those fields, regardless of sex.

Hourly Differences among the Same Occupation

One’s hours may affect their wages. If someone is working part time and another is working full time, you would expect that the person working full time would receive more wages (when controlling for occupation). What about when two people are working full-time? According to the IRS, the definition of a full-time employee is “an employee employed on average at least 30 hours of service per week, or 130 hours of service per calendar month.” Wages can differ for two full-time employees working the same occupation. If one employee is working 30 hours a week and the other is working 40 hours a week, then the person working more hours receives more wages. The main issue of some of the gender wage gap papers is that even when they control for occupation and state that their data is based on median earning of men versus women based on full-time hours, they don’t specify how many hours the individuals have worked. One example of this is from National Partnership for Women & Families (2016) which note that nationally the median annual pay of a woman who works full-time is $40,742 while a man’s medial annual pay is $51,212. Just looking at the differences of hours worked among individuals who are full-time employees could explain part of the discrepancy. Another aspect that is important that isn’t always noted in these studies is job title which can affect the amount one makes (Polachek, 1981). If two people work in the same field, yet one is a supervisor and the other is a position below them, the difference of their hourly wages might be small but will add up even when controlling for hours worked by both individuals. This can lead to an increase in annual salary of the supervisor versus the person below them.

There are studied differences between the hours worked on average by men and women.  Men tend to work more hours than women. In comparison to men, women on average tend to work part time, especially when they are married or have children (Blau and Kahn, 2016). As stated above, women who are single tend to work similar hours to single men. When looking at wage and salary workers in 2013, it is noted that about 26% of women and 13% of men worked part time – less than 35 hours a week (Blau and Kahn, 2016). Although full-time jobs may not always be available for both sexes, this doesn’t fully explain why there is still a ~13% difference in part-time work/hours between men and women. A reason why this gap occurs could be due to flexibility of schedule (Matteazzi et al, 2013). One, women experience more interruptions in their career than men do (i.e. childbearing and childbirth) and this could be a greater variable in why women may drop out or reduce their time in the labor force. They may be searching for childcare or wanting to be there during early stages of infancy and so forth (Matteazzi et al, 2013).

  Anyone working part-time compared to someone working full-time not only may have lower wages, but are most likely not unionized, don’t receive benefits and these can also affect wages and decisions in the labor force. Full-time employees who receive benefits may see different wages depending on compensation packages (Currie, 1995) or the amount of hours worked since full-time hours could range.

Education, Experience, and Age

  There are other variables that contribute to the wage gap and although these factors do not affect the gap as much as occupation, hours worked and family status (Polachek and Xiang, 2014), these variables still influence the narrowing of the gap and thus should be discussed. Education, experience and age should not be separated from one another because they all reinforce each other. One’s education level may determine their age (if they have their graduate degree, they may be older than someone just receiving their bachelor’s degree). Age and education level may correlate with the amount of experience one has in the field they specialize in. Polachek and Xiang (2016) state that experience made up 8% of gender wage gap in 2010. They also found that in 2010, human capital variables which include age, education and experience accounted for 38% of the wage gap in comparison to 49% in 1980 (Polachek and Xiang, 2016). 

  Relating education to the wage gap may be difficult because the type of degree obtained matters, but there is also an importance of what field the degree is in. For example, getting a graduate degree in women’s studies may give someone the option of being a professor/researcher, teacher, journalist, and etc. however spaces are limited (HigherEd Jobs, 2017) and some occupations for women’s studies graduates may be more competitive than others. With occupations in the STEM fields, an individual may be able to obtain a career in a field with a bachelor or master’s degree (lab tech for chemistry and biology only require Bachelor’s degree). Some examples are nursing, engineering, computer science, mathematics. 

  According to the American Enterprise Institute, in 2015, women earned the majority of doctoral degrees for the 7th straight year; there is still a gender wage gap.

Figure 4 shows graduate degrees among men and women. Fields where women dominate over men are listed in bold. Source: AEI's report on graduate degrees among male and female students which used data from Council of Graduate Schools.

  Some of the fields that women are getting their graduate degrees in may not be as economically demanding as an engineer or physicist for NASA. A field that is still highly demanded and that women are dominating in is the health sciences and more specifically, nursing. When taking account all 50 states, women make up most of the nursing field from ~70% in California to ~90% in Iowa (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2016). 

  However, when looking at the other fields women graduated from, women on average chose fields such as Arts and Humanities, Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Education, Social Sciences and other fields such as Communication Studies, Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies. In Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Business, women were less likely to go into those fields from undergraduate schooling up until graduate school. Although fields that women on average tend to gravitate towards are fields that may be demanding such as nursing and education, there is on average a higher demand for people in the STEM field such as computer science, mathematics, physicists and chemists (Glassdoor, 2015). Based on a Glassdoor 2015 list of the 25 highest paying and most demanded occupations, physicians, engineers, lawyers (especially engineers) were on top of the list. There are costs and benefits to entering an occupational field that may be financially beneficial, but inflexible. Working more hours (mostly full-time) may be favorable for an individual, however if there is inflexibility involved (constant deadlines, less time off), then it may be more difficult for women and some men to take time off for family related issues – whether it is childbirth, sick spouse, ill parents, and so on. Working fewer hours with a flexible schedule would be mostly advantageous if a woman is ready to start a family with her partner. She could take time off to be with the infant, to look for childcare, or to fully heal, even if it passes maternity leave time. Although this situation may not be ideal, it is still shown that women tend to work part-time more often than men or completely leave the workforce for family reasons (Pew Research, 2015). Data from Pew Research 2015 states,

“42% of mothers with some work experience reported in 2013 that they had reduced their work hours in order to care for a child or other family member at some point in their career, only 28% of fathers said the same. Similarly, 39% of mothers said they had taken a significant amount of time off from work in order to care for a family member (compared with 24% of men). And mothers were about three times as likely as men to report that at some point they quit a job so that they could care for a family member (27% of women vs. 10% of men).”

   Regardless of the reason (although most seem to be family oriented, or being there for the infant during breastfeeding stage) why more women take time off or reduce their hours at work, it is shown that personal decisions relate to the gender wage gap. If on average more women (especially among married women or mothers) take time off or work less hours than men on average, there will be a decrease in wages of the woman than the man if controlling for occupation.

Salary Negotiation

One component to the gender wage gap may be due to salary negotiation on both sides. One who does not negotiate wages, salary, benefits and other packages, may not get them or may obtain a lower salary. In this case, someone who does not negotiate versus someone who does may end up with the short end of the stick. Studies have shown that women on average are more risk averse than men (Charness et al. 2012; Croson and Gneezy, 2009; Stuhlmacher and Walters, 1999). There may be some biological and cultural/social reasons why risk averseness is greater in women than men. A possibility is the social and psychological effect of women asking for a raise (Stuhlmacher and Walters, 1999). Some women may come off as ‘too bossy’ or too demanding if negotiating a raise.

  Another aspect of risk averseness may be genetic or hormonal. A 7R minor allele of the DRD4 gene (dopamine receptor) may be a gene associated with financial risk-taking in men – although still attributed to addiction and attention deficit disorders (Dreber et al. 2009). Dreber et al (2009) conducted a study with 24 participants who had the 7R allele (associated with 7R+) and 70 participants without the 7R allele (7R-). They state that on average 7R+ individuals invested more money than individuals who were 7R− in a game where participants invested in a risky investment deal (Dreber et al. 2009). The participants started with $250 and were given the choice to invest from $0-$250. So, if they started with $250 and invested $50, their left over balance would then be $200. A coin was flipped to determine if the investment would be successful or not (50/50 chance of a successful or unfavorable outcome). If the coin showed an unsuccessful outcome, the subject would then have $200. If the coin showed a winning outcome, the amount they invested would be multiplied by 1.5 (50x1.5) then added to $250. Their p value was .023 and their regression value was .05. The researchers suggest that the variation in risk-taking may be explained by 5% with this gene (Dreber et al. 2009). Other genes or biological affects and other cultural/social factors may contribute to the likelihood of risk-taking and especially more recently, financial risk-taking which relates to the wage gap. Dreber et al. (2009) also state that since women are seen having these polymorphisms in the DRD4 gene as well, aggression, competition, and risk taking in men could be testosterone dependent although they did not find an accurate correlation between the two. More research needs to be done to determine the sex differences between the behaviors associated with the 7R allele of the DRD4 gene. Another study found that some women who overeat and have Seasonal Attentive Disorder, have this allele/polymorphisms in the DRD4 gene which may be associated with attention deficits in childhood and mild to moderate obesity in adulthood (Levitan, R.D. et al. 2004). There may be differences in regard to the behavioral effect of the 7R allele in both men and women, however further studies must be done to show significant biological differences between men and women in association with the 7R allele.

Social and cultural differences may be another factor why women are more risk-averse than men. Since women started entering the work force later than men and there were certain gender related behaviors that both men and women adhered to more so in the past than now, there may be a cultural reason why women may be less likely to negotiate (Bilke and Hurtel, 2015). A meta-analysis by Bilke and Hurtel (2015) show that gender differences in economic negotiation depends on context. On average men had slightly better outcomes than women with negotiation, but the gender differences in outcome decrease when the negotiator was provided with information about the bargaining range, and average values of salary. The researchers present a case that if women are given more information or training about negotiation tactics, it may lower the differences in negotiation. They do however note that even if women know their information, some may come off as assertive; deviating from a personality type that is more associated with woman-like behavior (Bilke and Hurtel, 2015).

Compensation Packages in Relation to Occupation Choice and Wages 

  A variable not discussed as often as the variables listed above is compensation packages and whether there are differences between benefits received by men and women and if this can affect wages (Currie, 1995). Currie (1995) notes that non-wage compensation benefits may account for between 30 to 40% of labor costs in western industrial countries. One study focused on 6 benefits: pensions, health insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacations, disability, and training to determine if there are similarities to benefits that men and women receive and how it may affect wages (Currie, 1995). Currie (1995) points out that in Reed and Holleman’s (1994) study, there are differences in benefit coverages women in small businesses and small firms receive in comparison to men. Reed and Holleman (1994) state, “that while gender gaps in benefits coverage are relatively small among single workers, among married workers, women are less likely to have pensions and health insurance, and more likely to have paid sick leave and paid vacations.” This may be due to the fact that married women on average may already have or are planning to have kids. Paid vacations and sick leave may be advantageous if a mother wants to take time off to be with the child. Businesses might also offer women more sick or vacation leaves if they want to fit maternity leave days in the package (Currie, 1995). When looking at single, young men and women (25-34 years of age) working in firms, there are no significant gender gaps in health coverage, and female workers are even more likely than men to receive sick leave (Currie, 1995). The reason for certain gaps in benefit packages may be due to a variety of reasons, and one factor to explain the pension gap (especially seen among older individuals) may be the fact that women’s labor force participation has been increasing over time, There are more younger women in the labor force than predecessors who may have lived and potentially started working during/after the women’s rights movement. Currie (1995) states that some benefits may be of value to certain individuals of the opposite sex, and some turnover with young women may be correlated with benefits. Table 1 exhibits differences between married and single women and men in regards to hourly wages and likelihood of receiving a certain benefit. Single women tend to receive closer hourly wages to single men in comparison to married women with and without children. 

Table 1 displays wages and benefits separated by categories such as married with or without children and single with or without children. It is shown that more women receive sick leave than men and single women are more likely to receive pension than married women. Source: Adapted from Currie (1993). Tabulations based on the May 1988 Current Population Survey. (1995)

  Single women also are more likely to have a pension compared to single men and are mostly equal to married women. A hypothesis to this is that married men may already include their family in their pension policy or are older than single men, thus more likely to open or receive a pension plan. Though this may be an option, Dushi (2013) from the Social Security Administration states that married individuals, regardless of sex, are more likely than single men and women to receive a pension plan. Percentage difference between married men and married women seem to be insignificant (Dushi, 2013). Males regardless of family status are more likely to receive a disability plan. One reason may be due to the fact that among the sexes, men were and are still more likely to injure themselves severely or die from occupational hazards (Knestaut, 1996; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). More research would be valuable in this sector of the wage gap to determine more recent compensation packages related to wages and occupation to see if a similar trend still displays today. 

Conclusion

There are many variables and constants that can affect the wage gap. Future discussion of the gender wage gap should take into account major factors that substantially narrow the gap such as family status, occupation (job title as well as gender differences in occupation), and hours worked (CONSAD, 2009; Polachek and Xiang, 2016). However, researchers should not leave behind other variables that contribute to the narrowing of the gap as well such as education, age and experience, salary negotiation, and compensation packages and its effects on wages. Although discrimination may still be a factor in regards to an unclosed gap, it may not be as large as the popular ‘75 cents to a man’s dollar’ myth. Discrimination is a difficult variable to measure and collect data on, however controlling for decisions made by both sexes that are seen cross culturally or seen as a trend over time may be useful to understanding the wage gap as well as moving forward to try to close it (Polachek and Xiang, 2014). Paraphrasing CONSAD’s (2009) concluding statement, although additional research in the gender wage gap is needed, the studies listed conclude that differences in wages between men and women are a result of many variables. Fair and accurate discussions of the wage gap should be had to determine if there needs to be corrective action to ‘fix’ the gap. There may not be much to correct. It is shown that a lot of the main differences in raw wages may mostly be due to the result of individual choices being made by both male and female workers. 

References + Other Links

1) What Is the Gender Pay Gap? - Payscale

2) Pay Equity and Discrimination - Women's Policy Research

3) The Gender Wage Gap: 2015; Annual Earnings Differences by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

4) The gender pay gap is much, much smaller than you think it is

5) America’s Women and the Wage Gap - Median Full Time Earnings

6) Myth Busting the Pay Gap

7) The Equal Pay Act of 1963

8) What Gender is Science?

9) An Analysis of Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women

10) Explaining the gender wage gap: Is culture the missing link?

11) STEM Training and Early Career Outcomes of Female and Male Graduate Students: Evidence from UMETRICS Data Linked to the 2010 Census

12) Gender Differences in Employment and why they Matter

13) The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations

14) Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap

15) The Gender Pay Gap Across Countries: A Human Capital Approach

16) Energy security vs. food security – comparing Brazil, Indonesia and Tanzania

17) The role of agriculture in reducing poverty in Tanzania: A household perspective from rural Kilimanjaro and Ruvuma

18) The role of women in agriculture

19) Gender Gaps in Benefits Coverage

20) Women earned majority of doctoral degrees in 2015 for 7th straight year and outnumber men in grad school 135 to 100

21) GENDER DIFFERENCES IN NEGOTIATION OUTCOME: A META-ANALYSIS

22) Gender Differences in Preferences

23) Experimental methods: Eliciting risk preferences

24) The 7R polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4) is associated with financial risk taking in men

25) Dopamine receptor genetic polymorphisms and body composition in undernourished pastoralists: An exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern Kenya

26) Evidence of positive selection acting at the human dopamine receptor D4 gene locus

27) The Wage Penalty for Motherhood

28) Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2008

29) WHAT DO WAGE DIFFERENTIALS TELL US ABOUT LABOR MARKET DISCRIMINATION?

30) Women in the Sciences

31) Shiraz University - Iran

32) 25 Highest Paying Jobs In Demand

33) On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near Parity – For Now

34) SAD, DRD4

35) A Meta-Analysis on Gender Differences in Negotiation Outcomes and Their Moderators

36) Fewer Women Than Men Die From Work-Related Injuries

37) NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2015

38) World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012

39) Pension Plan Participation Among Married Couples

X-Men Apocalypse and the Book of Revelation (Spoilers Ahead)

WARNING: Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.


Introduction - Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the last book of the New Testament of the Bible. It is often known as Revelation or The Apocalypse of John. Its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek: apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation." The book spans three literary genres: the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean, addressing a letter to the "Seven Churches of Asia"(an interesting side note: Quicksilver's slow motion scene has this song playing in the background: "Sweet Dreams." One part of the song that relates to this and the movie in general are these lyrics: "I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody's looking for something.) He then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. There are two important stories mentioned in the book of Revelation that I will later compare to X-Men; The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the False Prophet.

Throughout the New Testament - before the Book of Revelation - there were warnings of false prophets. One example of this is when Jesus predicted the future appearance of false Christs and false prophets, affirming that they can perform great signs and miracles. An example of this is not in Revelation, but in Olivet Discourse also known as "Little Apocalypse:"

"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. . . . For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time"

In this Jesus mentions that the false prophet will show miracles and perform great signs (keep this in mind for when I explain why I believe this is referenced in X-Men Apocalypse).


X-Men - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 

In the Revelation, The Four Horsemen are described and symbolized as Conquest, Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. The four horsemen appear when the Lamb (Jesus) opens the first four seals of a scroll with seven seals (which is described in Revelation chapter 6). As each of the first four seals are opened a different coloured horse and its rider is seen by the apostle John as described in Rev 6:1-8. In the movie X-Men Apocalypse, the villain in that movie (who has many names) who is represented as this prophet-like figure (I will go into more details when I talk about his character) always has four riders with him.  In the beginning of the film, we see a scene where their current leader or 'god' is brought to a pyramid where another man is lying on a counter top.  Someone cuts the man's skin deeply and they all witness the man's body heal itself. At that moment the leader lies on another counter and the 'transfusion' or transference begins:

Figure 1. Transference process

Figure 2. The leader on our right and the man on our left

During this process the leader uses the man's body as a host body for himself. Every body he uses he takes his own powers with him and obtains his victims powers as well. He does this to basically receive more power and to stay immortal. He uses these bodies to keep living.  During this specific process, some of his own people end up betraying him and sabotaging this body transfer process. In this scene, other people in the room (who you could assume are his original horsemen), end up being killed.  One of his horsemen in particular, protects him as she is dying. Because of her, he survives the impact, but falls into a deep sleep-like stage (date, around 3600 BC - somewhere along those lines).  Fast forward to the 1980s and the same leader has awakened and seeks to find his new riders.


White Horse

In Egypt, he witnesses a young girl who uses her mutant powers to steal from a local vendor. The merchants chase her and trap her and tell her that she is going to get her hand cut off. At that moment the leader also known as En Sabah Nur or Apocalypse (I'll be calling him Apocalypse from now on), stops them and saves the young girl from the merchants. He speaks to her and asks her to join him and ends up magnifying her powers and that is when she ultimately becomes Storm. Storm is considered his first rider or horseman. In the bible, the first rider is the white rider or the white horse. There are many interpretations of who or what the white rider could represent. However, one thing that stays the same is this verse in the Book of Revelation.

"Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder..." (Revelation 6:1-2)

"With a voice of thunder." One of Storm's powers is that she manipulates weather, she is the 'voice of thunder' she can modify the temperature of the environment, control all forms of precipitation, humidity and moisture (at a molecular level), generate lightning and other electromagnetic atmospheric phenomena, and has demonstrated excellent control over atmospheric pressure. She can incite all forms of meteorological tempests, such as tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, and hurricanes, as well as mist. She can dissipate such weather to form clear skies as well. Another thing to note is that Storm's hair is white, this relates back to the white horse the first horseman rides.

Figure 3. Storm from X-Men Apocalypse

The white rider is known in biblical literature to be a conqueror or a warrior. A crown is placed on the white rider's head and this means that he is the king of all nations or appointed head of state(s). In the movie, Storm is the first to be approached.  Apocalypse calls her his goddess (he is considered to be the God) when he enhances her powers. He appoints her to be his goddess, in this case the queen of the nations.

Figure 4. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. First rider is the white rider, followed by the red horse, black horse and pale horse.

In some cases, the white rider is known to be righteous. This isn't the case for the other horsemen. The first horseman has been interpreted by some religious researchers as a guide for the "right path." In the movie, Storm is the only horsemen who chooses to join the X-Men and ultimately changes sides. She decides not to serve Apocalypse, but to go on the 'right path' and train with the X-Men.


Red Horse

The Horse that follows the white horse is the red horse which represents war. The rider of the red horse is usually depicted by holding a sword upwards as though he is ready for war or mass slaughter. In military symbolism swords held upward, especially crossed swords held upward, signify war and entering into battle.

Figure 5. Double crossed swords facing upwards depicts 'ready for a fight'

Apocalypse's next horseman he chooses is Psylocke. He finds her at Caliban's place. In the movie, Caliban is shown to know a lot about mutants and where to find them.  Apocalypse states he is looking for the strongest and Caliban asks if he will pay for the information. Apocalypse says no and Caliban mentions that he is closed and not open for business. Psylocke is shown to be hesitant of Apocalypse and Storm and is ready to protect Caliban at all times. When she feels as if Caliban is in threat she unleashes her psychic knife and sword and holds it near Apocalypse and Storm's throats. She asks what he wants and Apocalypse states he want her. He also enhances her powers and it is shown that her psychic knife becomes longer and stronger (resembling a sword now than a knife). One scene in particular where you see her cross her swords is after she pierces through the car to save Storm's life.

Figure 6. Quick crossing of both of her swords. The sword and the crossing of the swords is associated with the rider who is on the red horse. He represents War. In this case, Psylocke is the only horseman in apocalypse equipped with an actual sword and a sword of her own (the psychic sword - Apocalypse enhances her powers, turning her knife into a sword)

In the movie, she uses her martial arts and her sword to fight. She represents the 'soldier' of the four horsemen, the red rider. She is also shown to be wearing a red belt-like object. That could be a representation of the red horse.


Black Horse

Although in the comics Archangel or Angel is portrayed as "Death" the final horseman or the leader of the other horsemen, I believe that Archangel portrays the Black Horse. Before Angel joins Apocalypse, we see him in a cage fighting other mutants in an underground fight club. He is successful and has beaten his opponents thus far. The host (might be one of the people in charge of the whole underground club) introduces Angel's next opponent - The Devil. The Devil is shown to be Nightcrawler and he tries to escape, however, the metal surrounding the cage is connected to a high voltage system and Nightcrawler starts to get electrocuted. Out of pain and desperation, Nightcrawler takes angel and pins him to the cage, causing Angel to lose some parts of his wings (due to the high voltage). After that Nightcrawler escapes with the help of Mystique. Mystique increases the voltage in the cage and that is how Nightcrawler takes Angel down - giving Nightcrawler a chance to escape. Angel is left there injured and without enough feathers to help him fly properly. He ends up in an abandoned building, drinking, frail, not able to fly as well as he did before. Apocalypse arrives to the abandoned building with Storm and Psylocke to recruit Angel. When Psylocke sees what Angel now looks like: lost wings, drunk, fragile, she tells Apocalypse that they should leave. Apocalypse sees potential in Angel and tells him he will give him what he needs. He enhances and even transforms Angel. Instead of having white wings, Angel has black metal wings with black metal armor, this represents the black horse.

Figure 7. Angel before Apocalypse

Figure 8. Angel after Apocalypse 

In some cases, "black" could represent famine (physical or spiritual), evil, opposite of goodness, everything that opposes God. An object that the black horse rider is described as carrying is a pair of scales and as the "Lord as a Law-Giver." Noticing that wealth and bread were unfairly distributed, Famine will punish those who had achieved such balance through injustice and excess.  Angel comes from a wealthy family, however in the movie we see him in a cage, being exploited for his powers, by people who sit and watch him fight for his life. Because of this, Angel is a character who can be portrayed as someone trying to "balance the scales" between classes. Apocalypse will give him the opportunity to be a symbol of hope but at the same time, someone that could easily take away that which hasn't been rightly earned (especially the machines and objects humans have now claimed as their own and are using to keep the people following them 'blindly.'

Pale Horse

The fourth and final horse is the pale horse. The pale horse represents death and its rider is known as the pale rider or Death. Out of all the riders he is the only one who is given an explicit name. He is also the only rider who is usually depicted without a weapon or any other object. Instead, he is followed by Hades.  This fourth horseman is the last of the horseman because he is the one who finishes the job. His job is to destroy the Earth. By the time the fourth horseman completes his ride, a fourth of earth’s inhabitants would experience incredible devastation. The death toll would be unlike any plague or disease in human history.  The pale color of the fourth horse is thought to represent fear, sickness, decay, and death. The word used to describe the color of the pale horse is the Greek word chloros, or green. It is meant to convey the sickly green tinge of the deathly ill or recently dead. This represents the last and final horseman Apocalypse chooses: Magneto. Although some may claim that he represents the red horse rider (his costume is red), I believe that Magneto represents the pale rider. Magneto's story throughout this X-Men trilogy (i.e X-Men First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse), Magneto is surrounded by death. His parents were taken from him when he was young and his mother was shot and killed right in front of him. In Apocalypse his wife and daughter are killed right in front of him (after they die, he looks up and screams 'is this what you want from me? Is this who I am?'). The most important people to him are taken away, by death. Not only has he faced this, but in the last two movies, he is weary and fears what humans will do to the mutants. This is why he decides that he needs to destroy the humankind. Every time he tries to do 'good' or tries to join the 'right side' he is shown why he cannot trust humankind.

Apocalypse finds Magneto in the metal warehouse where Magneto used to work. Magneto says to his coworkers that they must imagine their loved one (wife, daughter, mother - an interesting thing to note is that he only uses the women in his life and not his father or any other male figure. This could represent the amount of pain he dealt with when he saw his mother killed right in front of him as a child. This affected his entire life and he was doing better when he had his wife and daughter. When they were shot and killed right in front of him it brought him back to the time his mother died in front of him. Every time he tries to do 'good' and give humans a chance, he is betrayed by them - this is important because in the movie, Apocalypse states that he has been betrayed by mankind) and think about the fact that their loved one will never see them again. He was planning to kill them because a couple of his coworkers reported seeing him use his power (controlling metal - to save someone's life) at the workplace. Magneto looks back and tells Apocalypse and the other horsemen that they will not be able to stop him from killing them. Apocalypse kills all of Magneto's coworkers and tells him that he is not here to stop Magneto but is here for him.  Apocalypse understands Magneto at this moment, since both of them have felt betrayed from mankind and Apocalypse enhances Magneto's powers. He brings Erik/Magneto to Auschwitz where he first used his powers and where he lost his family. Apocalypse encourages him to manipulate the metal in the earth (i.e the Earth's core since the inner core is made of iron-nickel solid, the metal ions in the ocean and so forth), and to use his anger to fuel his energy. Magneto begins to destroy the other buildings around him as Apocalypse vows to build a better world. After that, Magneto and the rest of the horsemen follow Apocalypse to Egypt where he destroys part of Egypt to create his own pyramid. He tells Magneto that he has an important role in this process and has Magneto reverse the Earth's magnetic poles, creating mass destruction which would ultimately lead to death. Magneto starts to destroy the world when the X-men arrive. In the end, after Apocalypse has been destroyed, we get a glimpse of the world. Mostly everything has been destroyed by the nukes, Magneto's magnetic pole reversal and the process of destroying the earth from within.


Apocalypse - The False Prophet/Cult Leader

Apocalypse is one of the most important characters in this movie. Apocalypse is an ancient mutant born with a variety of superhuman abilities who further augments himself after merging with Celestial technology. The character has total control over the molecules of his body. He can control the size of his body (we see this in the scene where Apocalypse and Professor X are fighting). He has been 'reincarnated' many times by a transference process with other mutants. By doing this not only can he live on but he also obtains their power. In the beginning of the movie, we catch a glimpse of a great pyramid with a cloak covering the tip of the pyramid with a symbol of an ankh in a upward facing arrow symbol. This symbol is a part of the Arrow of Ra. In the movie, Apocalypse states that some call him Ra.

Figure 9. Ankh 

Figure 10. The upward facing arrow - part of the arrow of Ra

Figure 11. Another image of the arrow on the same painting

Figure 12. Apocalypse's pyramid, ankh connected into the upward facing arrow

Ankh represents life in the future, life after death. Gods, kinks and Isis (almost invariably) are depicted holding the ankh to show that they command the powers of life and death and that they are immortal. The ankh is often set in the same category as the Girdle of Isis, as a symbol of eternity. "This is not because its straight lines may be lengthened in the imagination to infinity, but because they converge upon and meet in a closed loop." This loop symbolizes the essence of the life force identified with Isis, from whom life flows in all its forms. In some cases, the ankh can be further taken to symbolize the power to give and sustain life. This is important in X-Men Apocalypse because Apocalypse is seen as a "god-like figure." He represents the life after death. As he says in the movie, "Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!" He is referring to the destruction of the world mankind has built with machines and false leaders and to create a new world, life, etc after that. This symbol also represents Apocalypse because of his 'immortality', he is the symbol of eternity, since he has lived for thousands of years. 

The upward facing arrow doesn't have a set definition, however there are two that stick out. The arrow can symbolize either a 1) man, spirituality, death or 2) new life/birth. Both connect to Apocalypse, because he is shown as a god-like figure and is responsible for wanting to cause death to humankind, to destroy the world they have built and rebuild a new world and give a new life without false gods/leaders. 

Although apocalypse states throughout the film that people have followed false gods and that he is here to save them, does he truly represent a god-like figure? Or can he be compared to a false prophet? In biblical literature, God tells people to watch out for a false prophet. He will show them great miracles and signs, however he is not the true prophet. Although Apocalypse had many powers, he was not entirely immortal. The only way he could stay immortal was to use another body to put himself into. This relates to when Jesus states that the false prophet will come disguised in many forms. Although Apocalypse looks the same in each incarnation, he is using other bodies to achieve this. He is 'disguising' his mortality by transferring himself into another body, taking their power with him. In the beginning of the movie when Apocalypse has awaken and is with Storm, he puts his hand on a television and she asks what he is doing. He tells her that he is learning. If Apocalypse were a god-like figure he would already be aware of what is going on. A good example of this and a god-like figure is Superman. He can hear what is going on around him at all times, he must choose where he goes and who to save. Because Apocalypse must learn what is going on with the world, he may not be a god-like figure. He is also not the 'strongest' as he mentions to be. Not only does he show them how powerful he can be (a false prophet can show miracles and signs), but he mentions in the movie that the strongest will rule (assuming it is himself).

"Together we will cleanse the earth for the strongest." 

"Those who are the strongest, this world is ours!"

Apocalypse is also defeated in the movie. Storm and Magneto both turn against him at the end. Angel dies and Psylocke escapes. With their help and the other X-men, Phoenix unleashes her powers and ultimately defeats Apocalypse. Flesh, Muscle, Bone is revealed under his armor. This shows that he is mortal and he is not actually the strongest mutant out there. This leaves us to question who Phoenix may represent ( I will delve deeper into that).  

Before I go into who Phoenix is and who she may represent, a hypothesis for who Apocalypse may also represent is a cult leader. In the movie, when he decides to choose his horsemen, he seems to go for the ones who have been betrayed by society, the poor, the weak, the hurt. Storm, before he gets to her, is stealing from a merchant - this may be because she is poor and needs the money. Psylocke is being used for her psychic abilities to locate other mutants, ultimately making Caliban more money. Angel loses his wings and becomes a drunk and lives in an abandoned building. Magneto has lost his family, for the second time, because he tries to fit in 'and do good.' He is lost, in pain, and realizes that he needs to do the same to humans. He states:

"I tried it your way, Charles. I lived with them, as one of them. They took everything from me. Now, we shall take everything from them."

Generally, cult leaders choose supporters who are affected by something so they can convince them that they are their 'savior'. Their miracles and signs look more impressive and hopeful. This is only one example of who Apocalypse may represent. I believe that it is a combination of both examples I have listed.

Phoenix - A Powerful Entity

In the movie, we are introduced to Phoenix. She cannot control her powers and is afraid to unleash everything she has. In X-Men Apocalypse, she has a dream about a world burning and falling to the ground and the last image she sees is Apocalypse. This is not only a dream, but foreshadowing of what will come. She is the only X-men character who can see this. She has a glimpse of something that may happen. In the end of the film, Charles asks Phoenix to unleash her powers. When she does she ultimately ends up defeating Apocalypse. Before he diminishes, he states "All is revealed." The reason why he states that is because he specifically says in the movie that the strongest will survive and win. At that point it is revealed that she is the strongest mutant. She destroys him and his philosophy holds true. He is content that the strongest mutant has survived. 

Figure 13. The Phoenix force, she has unleashed her powers and ultimately defeats Apocalypse. It is hard to tell in the picture, but you can see the fiery image of a phoenix behind her

In Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Earlier in the movie, Apocalypse states this:

"Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!"

In this case, Phoenix arises from the ashes of the world Apocalypse is destroying, she arises from HIS ashes.  In the historical record, the phoenix "could symbolize renewal in general as well as the sun, time, the Empire, metempsychosis, consecration, resurrection, and Christ. She is the one who destroys Apocalypse because he is the false leader, the false god, the false prophet. The phoenix represents the Empire Apocalypse was trying to destroy, the phoenix represents 'Christ,' the true prophet according to the Bible, the one who will lead the people into the right direction." Egyptians told a similar story of a phoenix-like bird. The Bennu, a heron bird that is part of their creation myth. The Bennu lived atop benben-stones or obelisks and was worshiped alongside Osiris and Ra. Bennu was seen as an avatar of Osiris, a living symbol of the deity. The solar bird appears on ancient amulets as a symbol of rebirth and immortality, and it was associated with the period of flooding of the Nile, bringing new wealth and fertility. In Judaism, the phoenix is known as Milcham or Chol (or Hol): The story of the phoenix begins in the Garden of Eden when Eve fell, tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. According to the Midrash Rabbah, upset by her situation and jealous of creatures still innocent, Eve tempted all the other creatures of the garden to do the same. Only the Chol (phoenix) resisted. As a reward, the phoenix was given eternal life, which meant that death had no power over the phoenix. The phoenix became a symbol of Christianity in early literature, either from the ancient Hebrew legend or from the incorporation of Greek and Roman culture, or from a combination of both. In any case, the ideology of the phoenix fit perfectly with the story of Christ. The phoenix's resurrection from death as new and pure can be viewed as a metaphor for Christ's resurrection. And as mentioned earlier, only Christ (i.e an almighty figure, an all powerful figure) can defeat a false god, Apocalypse. In X-Men Apocalypse, Phoenix represents the rebirth of the world and true strength.

Note: There are many interpretations on which character represents which horseman and who apocalypse is. These are my views and interpretations supported by mythological and biblical characters and stories.


Conclusion

I believe that the director and writers of X-Men Apocalypse did a great job portraying mythological and religious texts such as the Book of Revelation, what the phoenix represented in different cultures, the arrow of Ra, and other Egyptian mythology in the movie. Through subtle symbolism/references and a recreation of the apocalypse with the four horsemen, X-Men Apocalypse was not only an enjoyable movie, but a movie that could enlighten the audience about ancient mythological characters and religious allegories.

References

Four Horsemen of Apocalypse

1) Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

2) Christian views on Hades

3) Who Are The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse?

4) The Rider on the Red Horse

5) With the four horsemen what did the color of the horse mean?

6) Horses in Judgment

7) The Horsemen of Revelation

8) Crossed Swords

9) The Rider on the White Horse

10) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Public Domain Review

11) Book of Revelation

12) False Prophet

13) Apocalyptic Literature

14) THE FALSE PROPHET AND IMAGE OF THE BEAST OF REVELATION

15) Revelation, Chapter 6


Other Mythology & Language 

1) The Meaning Behind the Ankh

2) Indus Script

3) Arrow of Ra

4) The Woman Clothed with the Sun

5) Phoenix (Mythology)

6) Ra

7) Tyet

8) Phoenix (Mythology) Pt. 2

9) Bennu

Storm

1) Storm (Marvel Comics)

Psylocke

1) Psylocke

Angel

1) Angel

Phoenix 

1) Phoenix

2) Phoenix Force

Apocalypse

1) Apocalypse

Quotes

1) Part 1

2) Part 2