Dani Strehle
Senior Manager
I am a woman of words. They are my comfort, my crutch, my weapon; and it’s damn near impossible to render me speechless. But speechless I was when I read a disconcerting (to say the least) article about a prominent female Republican’s opinion of America’s discriminatory male/female pay gap.
Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the “pro-family” (I use that term EXTREMELY loosely) group Eagle Forum, and a seemingly normal, sane and intelligent woman, claims that equal pay will prohibit women from finding suitable husbands, and that seeking equality means that we are really at war with human nature. Because, sure.
Now listen up gals, this part’s for you! Here is a full run down of Schlafly’s comments:
Another fact is the influence of hypergamy, which means that women typically choose a mate (husband or boyfriend) who earns more than she does. Men don’t have the same preference for a higher-earning mate.
While women prefer to HAVE a higher-earning partner, men generally prefer to BE the higher-earning partner in a relationship. This simple but profound difference between the sexes has powerful consequences for the so-called pay gap.
Suppose the pay gap between men and women were magically eliminated. If that happened, simple arithmetic suggests that half of women would be unable to find what they regard as a suitable mate.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I take issue with, oh, every single thing she said. First of all: any man who is legitimately unwilling to acquiesce the title of “main bread winner” is not worth my hand in marriage anyway. Second: perhaps she should have done some independent research before she started making gross generalizations about an entire gender. EVERY woman wants to find a husband? EVERY woman seeks a man who can provide for her and take care of her and treat her like a fairy princess? EVERY marriage must have this wage discrepancy in order to succeed?
Men, you should be outraged, too. She claims that not a single one of you is mature and evolved enough to be okay with the possibility of making less money than your wife.
Schlafly iced the proverbial cake when she said that women actually DESERVE less pay because we “work fewer hours per day, per week, per year” and “place a much higher value on pleasant working conditions: a clean, comfortable, air-conditioned office with congenial co-workers.” Really, is that so? Again, thank you SO much for speaking for the entirety of America’s female populace.
This disgusting rhetoric comes only days after Senate Republicans blocked a Paycheck Fairness Act. Another proponent for inequality is Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) who has previously defended the Right’s opposition to equal pay, calling the war on women “silly.”
It’s bad enough that we constantly have to fight an uphill battle professionally against the good ol’ boys, but to have to fight this battle with our own sisters? That’s betrayal at its very deepest, and they give a bad name to women everywhere.
The rest of us are fighting tooth and nail to take our rightful place as equals among men, and women like Schlafly and Blackburn are thwarting us at every turn. If you choose to be subservient and defer to your husband, you are certainly well within your rights to do so. But please, do not speak for us, and certainly don’t try and push your ancient beliefs on the rest of us.
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