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This is one of those 'when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife' questions where any answer looks bad. So keep reading to find out why the concept of equal pay regardless by gender is just communism in disguise.

The question suggests that somehow men are always paid more than women. This is false. Male fashion models tend to make much less than female ones. Why? Because the marketplace demands more women than men in this field. So, to right this wrong, should male fashion models be paid more and female fashion models be paid less? Of course not, but this kind of nonsense is what some folks are demanding.

In a free-market economy, wages are paid based on supply and demand not on whether the worker is male or female. If the field that you specialize in is in high demand and has a low supply of labor, you can get a higher wage. Conversely, jobs that are in low demand and have a high labor supply will yield a lower wage. An excellent example of a high-demand, low-supply profession is medicine. Physicians are in short supply and command a higher wage than a low-demand, high-supply profession like acting.

Aside from basic economics, the mythology of the glass ceiling that supposedly keeps women from earning equal pay is wrapped in deceit. While the statistics about the number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies may be accurate, the implication behind them is dishonest. Specifically, the statistics never take into account the fact that women are the ones who delay their careers to have kids. While some men may take paternity leave, the overwhelming amount of time off for childrearing is done by women. Women also put off education and training for the same reason, which hinders their earning power.

Culture and history also factor into this disparity. For centuries, men have been deemed to be the providers and our culture has demanded that men spend more time focusing on their careers while women spend more time focused on their families. To expect ages of tradition to change because of a few decades of well-publicized change is naive at best and dishonest at worst.

Career advancement and the subsequent higher earnings that result are also suited to the traditional male dynamic of being aggressive and goal oriented. While there are some women like this, most men and women, in my experience, fall into the long-standing roles that have not changed for centuries.

The suggestion that men and women are paid different amounts because there is some nefarious conspiracy to keep women underpaid is absurd. Economics, experience, performance and education, not fabricated conspiracies, are the determining factors in workplace wages.

Learn more about this author, Tom Sutcliff.
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