The Backlash! - November 1994

A debate or a discussion usually includes more than one viewpoint about some specific situation or topic at hand. The normal sequence is for one side to state their case and then allow the other side to state theirs. As in most discussions there can be often quite divergent views of the same "facts."

For the past 25 years the feminist movement has had the podium. On literally hundreds of occasions these ideologues have taken the stand to expose some new form of discrimination that supposedly victimizes women. Invariably these women present overwhelming statistics, charts, facts and figures (of questionable validity) that prop up their point of view. The media routinely publishes these "facts."

Unfortunately, for most of these years it is only the feminist viewpoint that has ever been presented. Little or nothing is ever said about the other (male) point of view. This lack of input from the male perspective has led to a form of de facto discrimination against men.

Hardly a day can go by without some new claim of discrimination by the feminists. This month, the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor (there is no men's bureau) published its findings from a first-of-its-kind survey of American working women. One by one, the TV network newscasters interviewed pop-feminists to make their story balanced. Talk radio parroted the complaints of these victimized working women. And the local Seattle Times ran the story, "Women ... want better child care, more pay."

When first reading the Times' story, one is led to believe that the findings of this survey truly "prove" that again women are discriminated against. But as I read through the story it became obvious that whatever this survey was supposed to show about women, could most likely be true for men. So let's take a look.

Among the findings stated in the Seattle Times were, women want improved pay scales. Hot tip, ladies, why don't you ask 1,000 men if they would like a pay raise. Why any supposed scientific survey would say that women would like a pay raise is beyond reason. What percent of the work force would not want a pay raise? So why is this a feminist issue? Why is it news?

The article went on to say that women want more responsible jobs. They want paid leave. They want health insurance for all. They have difficulty balancing jobs with family. So what's new here? Is there a man out there who doesn't want these goals? Is it a waste of money having the government doing a study like this without asking men the same?

One of my favorite complaints in this survey was, women want to get paid what the "job is worth." According to the Times, they are "tired of doing the same work for less pay than their male counterparts."

Well I say hold it right there. Show me one example of a job that pays a woman less for identical work. There are such strong legal sanctions against that sort of practice that I don't believe any company would be foolish enough to do it in 1994. If anything the present system rewards women with usually equal or greater pay for identical work. Most of the time in identical jobs with equal pay, men get the difficult dirty or heavy jobs, with out any added pay. In addition, especially in government jobs, under the feminist notion of "comparable worth," typically female jobs pay more money than the market would otherwise dictate. (This favors women.) If anything pay scales for typically male jobs (dangerous, dirty, demanding, uncomfortable) are under attack because there are few if any women capable or willing to do them.

The simple fact that this "women's work place survey" made such a media splash at all, is indicative of the bias the media has in favor of anything female. And the fact that there was no input from men is a form of discrimination against males. Can you imagine the government releasing a survey of this type about men that did not have some comment from some women's group?

How long is it going to take the media to better represent the interests of men? Daily we see the female side of "affirmative action" in many ways. From stories about the "Wonder Bra," women consumers, women's health, sexual harassment, to working mothers' day care dilemmas, it does not matter. If it is a story about women, it's news.

Senator Patty Murray comes to town and demands more money for women's health issues, it makes the news. Meanwhile, the fact that men live 7 years less than women (black men live 14 years less than white women) is not considered newsworthy.

It is time for this double standard to change.