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The ‘Equal Pay’ Debate

By Richard Whitmire — September 22, 2010 1 min read
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When researching Why Boys Fail I was struck by the persistent argument I heard from leaders of different women’s rights group: even if boys are in trouble, their difficulties are negated by the pay gap suffered by women. I never saw the logical thread, but they did, and therefore the pay gap debate has relevance to the boys issue.

In today’s Times, Christina Hoff Sommers does a nice job laying out the case against the latest legislative initiative promoted by women’s rights groups (and the Obama White House, which is facing tough mid-terms and knows exactly how many more women than men voted for Obama two years ago).

Sommers and I have had our differences -- she thinks my assertion that she needlessly cornered the women’s rights groups with her book, The War Against Boys, and therefore hardened their positions against boys, is ludicrous. Fair enough. I’m sticking with my original analysis. In today’s commentary, however, her comments line up with my reading of what economists have concluded about the so-called pay gap.

The opinions expressed in Why Boys Fail are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.