I was alerted today via another blog about an article on MSN called “The (Real) Cost Of Love”. I realized after reading it why there was no place to comment on this article. It was one of the most sexist things I’ve seen lately and I’m sure the women reading this online would have ripped this guy apart(I’m assuming it is a guy). I’d like to talk a little bit about what I find wrong with this article and, like the article did, back up my article with “sources”, you know, like the New York Times, CNN news, and financial journal articles. (Compare the article’s sources to mine and I bet you’ll see I’ve already out-researched him.)
First of all, I see in this article, men are the breadwinners. Yes, women make up almost half the work force…(oh wait, that figure was from 1999, but as population has increased and more women are now attending college then men, women are likely entering the skilled work force at a larger rate.) But, ladies, men are still our providers.
I feel bad for how much money men have to pay for us. Who cares that women are also paying more taxes then men; earn 1/4 less than what men earn doing the exact same job; and are still doing more housework then men. We cost men money, ladies. They have to buy us lingerie and jewelry.
So clearly, though I earn less than a man, am more likely to pay taxes than a man, and do more housework then a man, someone can still write an article about how much women cost men and make a few people nod their heads in agreement.
If we wanted to go with this articles cavemen premise, let’s assume what this guy does: that men earn the money and women have traditional roles. Values have been assigned to traditional women’s unpaid roles ranging from $75,000/year to $130,000+. I think that means as an average house wife, I’d “outearn” my husband. And let’s not even talk about the value-added services…
But wait a minute, women work too! I almost forgot. And I also forgot that I can actually pay for dining out, entertainment, personal grooming, and a lot of the other things on this list myself.
But I tell the author of this article not to worry about taking me on an “expensive dinner to apologize” for undermining the contributions of women in our society. I’ll buy my own dinner, thanks.