The 'Wage Gap' Will Forever Be a Myth

While I appreciate your offer to start a new debate with a more refined resolution, I'm perfectly content to continue this one. While I do believe that the semantic arguments entitle me to a win (Vote Con! ), I am more than happy to continue to discuss the substance of your intended topic. I'll respond to each of my opponent's points in this round, but I want to particularly focus on this pair of contradictory statements made by Pro:1> I do not believe it to be the 'sexist wage gap'2> mothers have to be payed less . .. because they are simply mothers*record needle scratch sound effect*Wait, let's roll that tape back one more time for emphasis:1> I do not believe it to be the 'sexist wage gap'My opponent believes the Wage Gap is not attributable to sexism2> mothers have to be payed less . .. because they are simply mothersMy opponent attributes the Wage Gap to blatant sexism. In all seriousness - what does Pro think sexism is? Look, if a company is paying equally-qualified, full-time fathers more so that they can be "breadwinners" and equally-qualified, full-time mothers less so they can be "homemakers" - that's sexist. That's really about as sexist as it gets. What kills me about this, really, is how matter-of-fact my opponent makes this statement, as if of course, obviously mothers should be paid less, why would anyone ever think different? That's why you give fathers more money. The reflexive nature of this attitude reflects just how deeply ingrained sexist thought is in our society - my opponent, who rejects sexism in the abstract, fails to see it in front of his nose. The first two disctionary definitions of sexism are as follows:1. attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles.2. discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex or gender, as in restricted job opportunities, especially such discrimination directed against women. [1]The attitude that a mother is necessarily the parent who must stay home with sick kids, or take early afternoons to shuttle kids to soccer practice, and will therefore somehow be less comitted to her job, is an attitude "based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles" and is therefore sexist. There's no legitimate reason why the father cannot be the parent to drive kids to school or be the one called in to the principal's office when they get into trouble. Employers who pay women less based solely on the assumption that women are "supposed" to do these things are sexist under the second definition, restricting women's pay and advancement opportunities based on these stereotypical attitudes. These attitudes are changing, if slowly. I've personally observed that among high-wage professionals (doctors and lawyers), many younger women are setting themselves up in the primary "breadwinner" role, allowing their husbands or wives to stay home and function in the caregiver role. That's much harder to do if the employers are deciding that they should be paying these women based on traditional gender roles that they and their spouses have rejected. [2]I would note that the source my opponent cites actually supports my side of this argument. [3] To quote:[B]eing perceived as taking care of your kids instead of contributing at the office is seen as bad for business, even if it’s not the reality, and mother’s wages suffer as a result. * * *In the end, however, the biggest problem remains social bias. The study even confirms this fact. In an upcoming study on the fatherhood bonus across the globe, Budig found the “biggest fatherhood bonuses in countries that are really conservative,” including Germany, she says. The bonus is “smaller in egalitarian countries like Sweden and Denmark. ” In other words, conservative views on gender equality coincide with an increase in the gender pay gap. To briefly address the rest of my opponent's points:-Yes, I meant to say newly trained male physicians in 2008 made $16,819 more than newly trained female physicians. Thank you for pointing out the omission. (Similarly, I assume that when you said "My opinion is that the wage gap is sexist," you intended "not sexist"? )-With respect to the Catalyst source, look again and check the bullet points with footnotes 26 and 27, along with the report cited. [4] You'll find that the source does support my third bullet point above. -You misunderstand my point about doctors, lawyers, and CEOs. You argued that "women usually choose to work family-friendly, safe places with lower pay. " And that might explain some of the wage gap - women choosing a different set of professions than men. But it does not explain why, within any given profession, wage discrimination persists for equally-qualified, full-time workers. When two Johns-Hopkins-educated doctors with the same number of years of experience in the same specialty, or two Yale-educated partners in the same law firm with similarly-sized practices, are paid very differently, and the only difference between them is a Y chromosome, then the only remaining reasonable explanation is gender discrimination. Back to you, Pro. Thanks again for this debate. [1] . http://dictionary.reference.com...[2] . http://www.nytimes.com...[3] . http://www.psmag.com...[4] . http://www.nawl.org...