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See the Bush in 30 Seconds Ad produced by Mike Cuenca.

Sure, he doesn't think pay inequity is a problem. He benefits.  
By Cynthia Annett | March 2, 2002
I am just a woman, which probably explains my problem with math and
economics. You see, I never understood that 66% equals 100%! I never understood that because I'm a woman, my PhD from Cal-Berkeley is supposed to be worth 34% less than the same degrees earned by men.

But now that it's been brought to my attention, I want to know why one car on the lot doesn't cost 34% less than the apparently identical car next to it, when one might have been made on an assembly line that included women, while the other was made by an all male assembly line. I want to know why one television set doesn't cost 34% more than the one next to it on the shelf because it has the sticker on the box that says "Made by Men". I want to know why stocks bought and sold by women stockbrokers don't cost 34% less than those bought and sold by male stockbrokers. I want to know why an education provided by women professors doesn't cost 34% less in tuition.

All this time I hadn't realized that the reason men who think like Al Lane don't see a problem with pay inequity is because they are better at economics than women. Men don't see a problem with pay inequity because they're shrewd enough to realize that under the current system, it's like men are all buying goods and services at a 34% discount compared with the buying power of women.

All this time I had worried that something more significant was wrong with my country. I had worried that the definition of "democracy" had been changed. I had worried that my dictionary was out of date, that the new editions no longer defined democracy as "The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community". I was worried that there's no equality in this country after all. Now I understand that all along it was merely my female lack of understanding of economics.

But now that I do understand all this, I have a suggestion for how Chancellor Hemenway could cut KU's budget by 34%: hire all women!


 


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