On Thursday, with little fanfare, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed a bill repealing the state’s 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which allowed victims of workplace discrimination to seek damages in state courts. In doing so, he demonstrated that our political battles over women’s rights aren’t just about sex and reproduction—they extend to every aspect of women’s lives.Yes, they really did this. And more. And he did it in the middle of the night.
Repealing the law was a no-brainer for state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R), who led the effort because of his belief that pay discrimination is a myth driven by liberal women’s groups. Ignoring multiple studies showing that the pay gap exists, Grothman blamed females for prioritizing childrearing and homemaking instead of money, saying, “Money is more important for men,” The Daily Beast reports:Whatever gaps exist, he insists, stem from women’s decision to prioritize childrearing over their careers. “Take a hypothetical husband and wife who are both lawyers,” he says. “But the husband is working 50 or 60 hours a week, going all out, making 200 grand a year. The woman takes time off, raises kids, is not go go go. Now they’re 50 years old. The husband is making 200 grand a year, the woman is making 40 grand a year. It wasn’t discrimination. There was a different sense of urgency in each person.” [...]
Grothman doesn’t accept these studies. When I ran the numbers by him, he replied, “The American Association of University Women is a pretty liberal group.” Nor, he argued, does its conclusion take into account other factors, like “goals in life. You could argue that money is more important for men. I think a guy in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner someday, may be a little more money-conscious. To attribute everything to a so-called bias in the workplace is just not true.”
The Concerned Women For America calls Equal Pay Day an "annual farce" and encouraged "women not to let feminists make them victims of an imaginary enemy."
"The real problem is feminist groups who try to dictate wages rather than allowing the market to provide a wide variety of options to women. In an age where women have more opportunities than ever before, it is shameful that feminists judge them by the size of their paycheck. Women who choose to stay home with their children make a huge contribution to society," said Wendy Wright, spokesperson for Concerned Women For America, "every person has the opportunity to make career choices and when we compare men and women who have made similar choices, we see equal pay already exists.
A majority of women would stay home with their children if they could afford to. We should focus on policies that allow women to make this choice, rather than pushing them into careers they don't want."