The National Organization for Women supports Equal Pay Day, a day dedicated to highlighting pay discrimination against women who, we are told, earn only about 75% of what men make. What NOW doesn't recognize is that the pay gap has little to do with "discrimination" but is instead a product of the gender roles of the nation's mothers and fathers.

NOW gets 75% by comparing apples and oranges--adding up what the average full-time employed male and average full-time employed female earn, without accounting for the following:

Full-time employed males (whether fathers or not) on average work eight hours a week more than full-time employed females. According to the International Labor Organization, the average American father works 51 hours a week, whereas those mothers of young children who do work full time (themselves a minority) work a 41-hour week. Women earn 76% of what men do for working 84% (not 100%) as many hours.

Full-time employed females have, as a whole, 25% less job experience than their male counterparts. Most of this gap appears in older workers and, accordingly, the gender wage gap among older workers is far greater than that among younger workers, where recent studies indicate that it is often nonexistent. Older women earn less, in part, because they've lost years of career progress to child rearing and homemaking.

Of the 25 most dangerous jobs in the United States (according to the U.S. Department of Labor), all of them are overwhelmingly or exclusively male. Over 90% of American workplace deaths and serious injuries occur to men. It is not unfair in the least that dangerous jobs pay more than safe jobs at the same skill level.

"The American Anorexia and Bulimia Association states that anorexia and bulimia strike a million American women every year...Each year 150,000 American women die of anorexia." It is estimated that one woman student in five is anorexic. Cosmetic surgeons are having a field day, with women seeking out the knife for every conceivable flaw. The Beauty Myth preaches that normal, round, healthy women's bodies are too fat; that cushy, soft women's flesh is really cellulite; that women with small breasts aren't sexy; that women lacking the "perfect" face aren't attractive; that a woman over 30 who shows signs of life on her face is ugly. No wonder women are either not asking, or disregarding the dangers of cosmetic surgery in their quest for this holy grail of "beauty."

Anyone familiar with what passes for statistics within feminism will not be surprised by the willful corruption of data. An underlying assumption of data-manipulators is that people are too stupid to notice the sleight-of-hand. The media exacerbates the problem by not asking the most basic questions about statistics, even ones with surprising conclusions. For example, journalists rarely ask, "What is the margin of error?" or "Does the average reflect a mean or a median?" Public schools contribute their share by failing to teach the fundamentals of statistical analysis.

In 1897 Churchill saw more action on the North West Frontier of India, fighting against the Pathans. He rode his grey pony along the skirmish lines in full view of the enemy.

Never able to resist a fight, he took part in the defence of an armoured train which had been ambushed by the Boers. He was captured and treated as a prisoner of war, but within a few weeks he escaped and made his way back to Durban. Churchill was hailed as a hero...

...he resigned from his Cabinet post and joined the Scots Fusiliers who were fighting on the Western Front. Once again he enjoyed the experience - he actually liked the noise made by the "whiz-bangs". He was a popular and efficient officer, as well as a brave one.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-hart02...

The GAO study had several limitations. For instance, it did not control for experience, level of managerial responsibility, or most important, continuous years spent in the workforce. (The Maloney/Dingell analyses in effect dismissed these shortcomings.) Yet, studies which do control for these relevant factors continually show that the wage gap between men and women virtually or totally disappears. In some industries, including once male-dominated ones like architecture, studies show that women earn slightly more than men.

The problem for liberals like Maloney and Dingell is that they cannot conceive of women preferring to forgo or cutback careers for a time (or altogether) to care for children, or choosing slower-paced careers at the outset, like pediatrics as opposed to neurosurgery, even when they know this might affect their long-term earnings potential. At best feminists frame the debate as featuring a “choice” women shouldn’t have to make — because it’s a choice feminists don’t want them to make.

Finally, and most importantly, remember that a correlation does not indicate cause and effect. A correlation is a mutual relationship between A and B — for example, if one goes up, then the other goes down. A cause-and-effect relationship means that A causes B. Consider the claim that women make 75 percent as much as men for doing the same job. The statement draws a correlation between being a woman and earning power but it says nothing about cause and effect. The 75 percent (if true) may be caused by other factors not weighed by the study. For example, women often leave the workplace to have children. This factor alone may cause much of the wage gap.

At 08:19 PM 12/12/03 +0200, you wrote:
> Wendy, Well, it's been a good day but your e-mail just made it real
>good. greatly, Wendy, and I think you are changing the world, possibly
>even more than you know. victims of discrimination in the military),
>and also because Jews are a matriarchal people to begin with and that
>national character combined with feminism has really turned this place
>into a hellhole. But things are finally changing, thanks in large part to
>you. The war, too, and the economic situation, and the lack of
>leadership, have a lot to do with the change in Israel. It seems like
>there is a subconscious voice in our society screaming - "where are the
>men?"... If you ever want to write about feminism (and the pro-family
>lobby) in Israel let me know, I'd be glad to help out with information and
>tons of stories. Thanks and merry Christmas, Gil

Thanks for such a warm response, Gil. I can only imagine how the war is impacting people and issues in Israel...but "where are the men?" is a questions that is being asked worldwide. I remain optimistic, however, because I see significant changes for the better in North America. So persistence does pay off. Hang in! And I appreciate your efforts in translating the articles into Hebrew. That's a first for me.
mac