In response to Daniel Morgan’s column Monday, I am appalled and disgusted. It is crucial that someone set some things straight and give hope to the unambitious, cowardly harpies out there.The notion that the 23-cents deficit in women’s salary is because of stereotypical “women’s” jobs is ignorant.If Morgan had found reliable sources for his information, he would have found that, often, a man and woman in the same field of work do not make the same amount of income.The pay-gap figure measures only women and men who work full time, for a full year. It does not include women who took time off during the year or worked part time.There are ways to fix this discrimination by the male-dominated work force.In the 1980’s, the state of Minnesota discovered state employees in female-dominated jobs were paid less than those in male-dominated state jobs. To fix this inequality, the state adopted a system that gave points for skill, effort, working conditions and responsibility for each job.They found male and female jobs rated similarly on these points, but their salaries did not reflect it and gave pay equity raises to make up for the difference.Unlike Morgan’s thesis, the only way to fix this unjust pay discrimination between men and women is to make the government take action.If women had waited for “the market to punish the prejudiced,” they would still be unable to vote.The market is greedy, as Morgan pointed out. Greediness leads smart people to overlook potential greatness.Another faulty assumption Morgan makes is females only suffer from emotional projection and psychological defenses. Between monthly visitors and baking buns in our ovens, women have to deal with enough hormonal-induced emotions to send Morgan to the hospital in a straight jacket crying that he only wanted his tomato sliced.
Isabel Blum is a 21-year-old communication disorders junior from New Orleans.—-Contact Isabel Blum at [email protected]