Identity Politics

[Yonadav]

I call bullshit on bullshit.
The wage gap is not normalized to control important factors-- career resets due to having a child, for example, or for the much longer hours some men work, and also for choosing careers which pay dividends other than pure $$$.
The latter is pretty important.  Ask how HAPPY men are in their jobs relative to women, at any salary amount, and I think you'll find that women overall report greater job satisfaction.  It fucking sucks being a man, and having to bring in money-- it's not a privilege, a joy, or a pleasure.
But for at least some women, working is an option.  It's an act of freedom-- rebooting a missed career, or finding something more interesting than making sandwiches for your teenagers.

---

What do you have to support your position?

Multitudes of academic studies disagree with you. It's relevant as fuck, and it remains a problem (albeit somewhat improving).

Appeal to numbers doesn't mean much, unless you can say exactly what the studies are examining.  If you're looking for a pay gap, it's there.  If you are looking to really explain the pay gap, there are some very clear contributors which have nothing to do with unfair pay for the same work.  Let's hear a woman explain it in terms simple enough for anyone to understand.

That's a good video, Benny. It is one of many, many videos that straighten out misconceptions about the wage gap, and yet people who keep bitching about the wage gap completely ignore them. They aren't interested in facts; they are only interested in their prejudices. And that is exactly why identity politics are ultimately toxic. Rather than dealing with real problems, the identity voter just votes their prejudice and won't be happy until all of society overtly discriminates in favor of their prejudice. The feminist identity voter will keep insisting that women are paid less than men, despite evidence to the contrary, and push for higher pay for women until it becomes undeniable that women are being paid more than men. Identity politics is not about equality. 

I had a nice little reminder about the difference between men and women the night before last night. My sister called me at 3 in the morning. Her german sheppard had what seemed like a heart attack at 2 AM and died. She didn't want to wait until morning, and wanted the dog to be buried immediately. Her husband was digging a hole in the snow and mud at 3 AM, and she wanted me to come help him. I went over and helped my brother in law dig a deep hole in the dark while stumbling around in the snow and mud. My sister's contribution was to make coffee. She is one of those who makes frequent quips about men being paid more than women, but she absolutely wasn't going to dig in the snow and mud with us. Immediately after the dog was buried, it appeared that she was completely oblivious to the fact that we had done all of the work under miserable conditions. She called her 24 year old daughter later that morning, and told her that "We were up all night, burying the dog." You know, as if she has somehow made a significant contribution to burying the dog.