Professional antifeminist Phyllis Schlafly – perhaps best known for her fervent opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment – seems to have been channeling the manosphere in a column she published yesterday on the issue of “paycheck fairness.” Turns out she thinks such fairness is actually a bad idea, because ladies love marrying rich guys more than they love earning money.
According to Schlafly, equal pay messes with the fundamental female desire for “hypergamy” – that favorite manosphere buzzword – and undermines marriage:
[H]ypergamy … means that women typically choose a mate (husband or boyfriend) who earns more than she does. Men don’t have the same preference for a higher-earning mate.
While women prefer to HAVE a higher-earning partner, men generally prefer to BE the higher-earning partner in a relationship. This simple but profound difference between the sexes has powerful consequences for the so-called pay gap.
Suppose the pay gap between men and women were magically eliminated. If that happened, simple arithmetic suggests that half of women would be unable to find what they regard as a suitable mate.
Indeed, Schlafly argues, women love marrying men who earn more than them so much that when the pay gap is eliminated some of them just won’t marry at all. Which is apparently the end of the world, or something.
The pay gap between men and women is not all bad because it helps to promote and sustain marriages. …
In two segments of our population, the pay gap has virtually ceased to exist. In the African-American community and in the millennial generation (ages 18 to 32), women earn about the same as men, if not more.
It just so happens that those are the two segments of our population in which the rate of marriage has fallen the most. Fifty years ago, about 80 percent of Americans were married by age 30; today, less than 50 percent are.
So it’s not enough that most people end up getting married; civilization will crumble if more than half of them don’t marry before the age of 30!
And so, she suggests, if American women knew what was good for them they would be begging for employers pay them even less, relative to men.
The best way to improve economic prospects for women is to improve job prospects for the men in their lives, even if that means increasing the so-called pay gap.
Hmm. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that Schlafly – a best-selling author and popular speaker on the right – didn’t send back any of her royalties or speaking fees so that she would feel more like a woman and her late husband would feel like more of a man, and I doubt she’s doing so now, as a widow. She’s also been unmarried for more than twenty years. Coincidence?
NOTE TO MEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS: When you find yourself agreeing with Phyllis Schlafly on pretty much anything (beyond, say, the existence of gravity, the need for human beings to breathe air, and other widely accepted beliefs of this sort), this is an indication that perhaps your movement isn’t the progressive, egalitarian movement that you like to pretend that it is, and that in fact it is sort of the opposite.
That said, I should also note that Schlafly’s notion of “hypergamy,” while sexist and silly, is decidedly less obnoxious than the version peddled by PUAs and websites like A Voice for Men — congrats, Men’s Human Rights Activists, you’re actually worse than Phyllis Schlafly!
She just uses the term to indicate a desire to marry up. For many manospherians, by contrast, “hypergamy” doesn’t just mean marrying up; it means that women are fickle, unfaithful monsters who love nothing better than cuckolding beta males in order to jump into bed with whatever alpha male wanders into their field of vision. (I’m guessing Schlafly hasn’t actually been going through the archives at AVFM or Chateau Heartiste looking for column ideas.) While many MRAs love to complain about hypergamy, many of them also seem to think that it’s unfair that “beta” males with good jobs aren’t automatically entitled to hot wives.
In case anyone is wondering, the actual definition of the word “hypergamy” involves none of that. According to Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, the word means “marriage to a person of a social status higher than one’s own; orig., esp. in India, the custom of allowing a woman to marry only into her own or a higher social group.”
That’s it. It refers to the fact of marrying up, not to the desire to marry up, much less to the alleged desire of all twentysomething women to ride the Alpha Asshole Cock Carousel. The manosphere’s new and not-so-improved definition came from a white nationalist named F. Roger Devlin.
ANOTHER NOTE: Big thanks to the people who emailed me about this story. If you ever see something you think would make for a good Man Boobz post, send me an email at futrelle [at] manboobz.com. I get a lot of ideas from tips!
Just started reading that letter, and love this bit:
“I wanted to try to work from something we have in common, and it’s been kind of hard to find something I have in common with you. Then, it came to me. I bet you wear a bra.”
I lol’d. We have a manboobzer in the making here! 😉
Back to the letter.
Wow. Twelve years old and Madison Kimrey has infinitely more wisdom, compassion and wit than Schlafy’s demonstrated through all her however-many-decades of life.
Just what I always dreamed of: the opportunity to be held hostage by a marriage that I have no hope of getting out of if it goes south because I’ll be doomed to a life of poverty if I leave him. Now that’s what I call romance.
Thanks for renewing my hope in humanity.
The best part is that it’s kids like that who’re going to be running things in 20 years and there’s not a damn thing that Schlafly can do about it.
My new pet ran away already 🙁
@katz Here’s another pet for you: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c5/1e/88/c51e885aa9012465d489f436412e099b.jpg
Who, Pinky? Well, let’s see… he showed up, made assertions he couldn’t support, dropped a few MRA talking points that were largely irrelevant to the subject at hand (WOMEN DON’T GET DRAFTED!!!!!!1), ran away from his original assertions, made some new ones, misquoted a woman to make it sound like she was saying something she didn’t actually say, ran away from his claims again, made more new ones, ran away from those too, and finally finished it up with the classic “LOL I TROLL U, I had you all dancing to my tune, I WIN1!!!!1111” before running away yet again.
I’m pretty sure in the fever swamps of the Man-O-Sphere, that counts as a Glorious Victory Against The Feminazis. I’m sure the other young fedoralings are in awe of his totally alpha Comment Game.
…fedoralings!
From a study into online dating preferences of men and women:
Income About 64% of men and 51% of women report their income. Figure 5.6 shows how these self-reported income measures are related to the members’ dating outcomes. Income strongly affects the success of men, as measured by the number of first contact e-mails received.
While there is no apparent effect below an annual income of $50,000, outcomes improve monotonically for income levels above $50,000. Relative to incomes below $50,000,the increase in the expected number of first contacts is at least 32%, and as large as 156%
for incomes in excess of $250,000. In contrast to the strong income effect for men, the online success of women is at most marginally related to their income.
Women in the $35,000-$100,000 income range fare slightly better than women with lower incomes. Higher incomes,however, do not appear to improve outcomes, and are not associated with a statistically different effect relative to the $15,000-$25,000 income range.
And what do you think this (uncited) study proves, Phaedrus?
Necrotrolls. What is it with the necrotrolls?
You are all wrong. Here is a study that proves my point. Here it is. HERE IT IS.
Shrugs. That’s easy enough.
From a study that shows Phaedrus Browne pulled these figures from their nether region:
Refer to figure x = (fl + no)/p to see that the pressure of said region equals the resistance for which it can be safely extracted, leaving no accurate data to escape.
*POP*
Ok, so what? You clearly don’t get that your study says the same thing every study of dating sites shows — women respond more selectively than men and men send more first messages than women.
Phyllis did a lot of damage to men by blocking the ERA. I watched the debate on YouTube and it was easy to tell she was trying to maintain women’s hegemony over men.
Feminism is what benefits men. Tradconism needs to die a well deserved death. Marriage and birth rates are at their lowest point in history – globally, which is great for men. With the possibility of a female president comes the possibility to the end of male-only conscription and an end to a nearly all male front line fighting force dying for women’s rights. An awakening by men is only happening thanks to feminism. Alimony, asset division, child support and civil suit payouts following false accusations will be a thing of the past as feminism progresses.
Phyllis was trying to protect women from the ultimate outcome of feminism. For that, I’m not a fan. Hopefully, her death speeds up the end of conservatism and works towards the progress of feminism. A feminism win is a man win.
Great!
Great!
Great!
Wrong! It turns out that “because of course that’s how it is” isn’t evidence!
Wrong! It turns out that “because it’s what I see” isn’t evidence either!
Wrong! You don’t understand feminism!
Yes! But not in the way that you think! It turns out that feminism is a win for everyone!
Feminism is gynocentrism on steroids. The irony of feminism is that it is working to breakdown hypergamy and male disposability, which is why I support feminism. Feminism is the equivalent of lifting the shade that hides the puppet masters. Feminism is the best thing that ever happened to men. History, through 20/20 vision, will point to Phillis and conservatism as the worst thing for men ever. For that, feminism is my hero.
No it’s not! Asserting a thing doesn’t make it true!
It isn’t ironic, that’s an actual goal of feminism! It’s great that you see that!
It is! The puppet masters are deeply-rooted societal forces embedded in both men and women! We call it Patriarchy! You recognize that! Great!
Agreed!
Can a philosophical concept be one’s hero? I thought that word was limited to persons. Doesn’t even matter, carry on. I’m sure there’s so many more interesting and original thoughts just waiting to spring forth onto the webpage. Dazzle me
Look, Scildfreja Unnýðnes, let me mansplain something to you (note that I’m manspreading as I type): I’m not your average idiot. You can’t quote to me the dictionary definition of feminism and expect me to bow. I’m not a fan of NAWALT. I know the history of feminism. The best thing to come from feminism is the release of men from divorce rape following financial and legal commitments by men to women. Next on the agenda for men is the defeat of ‘affirmative consent’ (the stripping of men’s rights to presumption of innocence and due process). It won’t require a lot of effort by men as men will simply stop talking to women through fear of being falsely accused.
I’m not a fan of Phillis because she promoted male disposability, cultural misandry and hypergamy. The goal of modern feminism is the same – male disposability, cultural misandry and hypergamy. Read all of the feminist articles about the poor women having to chose between marrying down or remaining single? Read all of the articles about male sexuality being solely about ‘grooming women into concubines’? Ironically – as feminism is merely a more potent form of gynocentrism – men are waking up. That is the true beauty of feminism – it’s self-defeating – which is the source of my admiration. There’s such a thing as keeping things on the down low – a skill feminists haven’t quite yet mastered. That’s how Phillis would have put it if she were honest.
The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) designed no-fault divorce, first introduced by white knight Ronald Reagan, to guarantee women their X husbands current and future assets and income. Since that time, trillions in wealth have been forcefully transferred from men to women, countless millions of men’s lives have been destroyed through divorce rape and tens of thousands of men have committed suicide each and every year. Now, NAWL gets to eat crow. It created a forest fire it can’t extinguish. NAWL lit the magnesium fire.
Marriage is advanced prostitution for women. The end of marriage is the best possible outcome for men. Don’t quote me the dictionary definition of feminism – it’s like the KKK trying to prove they’re only out to free white people from angry blacks. Nevertheless, please remain a feminist.
You’re right about one thing, Marky.
You aren’t average.
If you try really, really hard you might achieve mediocrity one day. Until then, you aren’t just the bottom of the barrel. You’re currently somewhere in the bedrock beneath the barrel.
But, you can always dream.
Gosh! A direct reply. I was not expecting that. Thank you!
(Note, I do not use sarcasm. I’m being sincere.)
I’m not at all interested in you bowing to Feminism, or to anything. I legitimately am glad that you want freedom from those structures that bind men in our society, because they are real, and they are incredibly powerful. You deserve freedom from those things. You deserve freedom of choice and action. You do not have these things at present.
However, you interpret Feminism – its goals, its statements, and its history – incorrectly. Deeply incorrectly. Don’t feel bad, this is normal. Brains are incredibly good at generating a huge diversity of interpretations for events that they encounter, and it’s almost always the case that the interpretation that’s remembered is the one which makes the person feel best, in a number of different ways. This is biological, as a function of how memory is encoded and recalled.
We are largely the same, you and I – all humans share roughly the same goals and aspirations when you boil them down enough. This is something important to remember – there is no conspiracy, there is only the stochastic sussurus of opposing interpretations jostling about in the great sea of humanity. We are not enemies at the deepest levels of our desires. Our goals are, largely, aligned.
My last name means “Freedom from anger.” It’s not that I’m free from anger, it’s a reminder to myself that my anger comes from that collision of interpretation. Try to shed the anger you hold, and adopt the principle of charity – when you encounter something that disagrees with you, believe that the people holding that interpretation does so sincerely, out of a desire for good. You will find that your own beliefs will start to shift towards the truth, and you will be free from anger, too.
Best of luck, Mark. I’m happy to help if you have questions.
http://orig12.deviantart.net/b1ce/f/2013/006/0/0/fluttershy_skips_by_eeglfethr-d5qpka8.gif
Scildfreja Unnýðnes – keep on keep’n on. Here’s a link I love. Why? Phillis reincarnate. This link represents why I love feminists and have nothing but disdain for traditionalists. If you read it carefully (between the lines/the undercurrents), it’s dripping with prostitution. This is one of the many reasons I love feminism.
The Lies We Believe: Women, Sex, and Feminism – Kristy’s House
http://kristyshouse.org/lies-believe-women-sex-feminism/
This ‘woman’ is the mirror image of Phillis and why feminism is so important to me. This blog represents why I hold a deep disdain for Phillis.
“Try to shed the anger you hold, and adopt the principle of charity – when you encounter something that disagrees with you, believe that the people holding that interpretation does so sincerely, out of a desire for good. You will find that your own beliefs will start to shift towards the truth, and you will be free from anger, too.”
Tell that to the countless millions of men forced to their deaths through male only conscription and gynocentric brainwashing, the countless millions of men robbed of their wealth and futures to divorce rape and the tens of thousands of men that commit suicide annually.
Feminism – Patriarchy’s greatest achievement. I truly thank feminists for all they’ve unwittingly done for men. Let the struggle for true equality continue.
I love that Skildfreya is like,
“Allow me to speak to your humanity and reason with respect and charity, like a awesome person should.” and I’m like:
https://goo.gl/images/AHHp4B