Dear Democrats, Women Don’t Need You to Succeed
By the Editorial Board
On Monday, the Democratic Presidential Nominee, Joe Biden, tweeted: “The hard truth is women— and particularly women of color— have never had a fair shot to get ahead in this country.” This tweet came alongside the release of The Biden Agenda for Women, which proposed a plan to “ensure that women can fully exercise their civil rights” in America. There’s only one problem since when are women not succeeding in America? Women currently account for 56% of earned college degrees. On average, female CEOs are making more money than male CEOs, and even “single, childless women earn more than their male counterparts of the same age in major cities across the United States.” I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a lot of female success!
Liberals will quickly “educate” you that women earn 78 cents for every man’s dollar. Then they will proceed to lecture you on “institutionalized” or “internalized” sexism. The “wage gap” narrative is central to the modern feminist movement, with feminists citing the statistic as their primary evidence for sexism in America. However, feminists often fail to explain this phenomenon further because any further explanation sees the narrative start to crumble. Feminists and their liberal counterparts frame the gender pay gap as a comparison between the salaries of men and women working the same job. Essentially, feminists suggest that for the same position and hours, American companies are paying their female employees 78% of what their male employees make. But, this is untrue and purposely misleading. The Equal Pay Act made pay discrepancies illegal in 1963.
So, where does the wage gap statistic come from? The statistic is calculated by taking the median salary of working men and comparing it to the median salary of working women. Despite what feminists want you to believe, this is not the measurement of “equal pay for equal work.” Different college degrees and career paths that men and women are drawn to account for different median salaries in America. While there might be a correlation between gender and pay, there are certainly several compounding factors that render the relationship far from causal. In other words, the discrepancy is a result of free choice, rather than injustice.
Women overwhelmingly pursue liberal arts degrees, while men choose to pursue business and STEM degrees in greater numbers. The Daily Beast cites a Georgetown University study that accounts for the gender disparities of top-earning degrees. “Number 1 best-paying major: Petroleum Engineering: 87% male. Number 2: Pharmaceutical Sciences: 48% male. Number 3: Mathematics and Computer Science: 67%. Number male 4: Aerospace Engineering: 88% male Number 5: Chemical Engineering: 72% male.” Men overwhelmingly pursue top-earning degrees, while women tend to pursue degrees of passion.
In addition to education and career differences, trends in the workplace also account for the difference. Women tend to seek jobs with more regular hours and choose careers based on interest rather than salary. A 2012 Forbes article examining a 2010 Department of Labor study found that “the average full-time working man spends 8.14 hours a day on the job, compared to 7.75 hours for the full-time working woman. Employees who work more likely earn more.” A 2020 PayScale study factored in the differences I listed above. “The controlled gender pay gap, which controls for job title, years of experience, industry, location and other compensable factors, has also decreased... Women in the controlled group make $0.98 for every $1 a man makes.” So controlling for these exogenous variables such as career field choice, hours worked, and career path deviations associated with childbirth reduce the “gap” to a mere 2 cents.
It is important to expose the wage gap myth because women should know the truth. We need to celebrate that American women feel empowered to pursue the college degrees and career paths of their passion, not income. That being said, choosing a degree in the softer sciences can’t be met with surprise come payday. Empowerment aside, as women, we ought to question why the feminist movement and the Democratic Party pushes a narrative of sexism in America. Why do liberals want women to believe they are victims of the American system?
The simple answer is to win elections. The Democratic Party relies on female voters, as 56% of women affiliate with the Democratic Party, compared to only 44% of men. To win elections, the Democrats need women. With the party’s self coronation as the “party of social justice,” the Democrats now hinge their success on convincing Americans that they’re [Americans] are at a place of principal and institutional injustice and need to be saved by the noble Democratic party. This is true for women, and any other key voting block the democrats rely on. Between the weaponization of the #metoo movement, the blatant disregard for the Biden assault allegations, to the flawed narrative that Hillary lost in 2016 because of “sexism,” it is clear that the Democrats see women as oppressed votes that need to be saved, rather than empowered votes that need to be earned.
It’s time to expose this narrative for what it really is. Women don’t need the Democratic Party’s pandering— frankly, it’s condescending considering American women are more empowered than ever to pursue their dreams and build their careers. American women are not victims, we are victors. While the Democratic Party seemingly thinks they can win women with cheap political thrills, and meaningless pink hats, there are women actively living and building their own version of the American dream. We are strong, we are empowered, and we are successful. We will never let the Democratic Party tell us otherwise.
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