When it comes to gender equality,
America's ranked 49th in the world, just below Peru,
which means now all those pictures I took
stunting at Machu Picchu
just make me sad.
So I'm here to do my part
by educating Americans about vital gender topics.
This is "Desi Lydic Womansplains."
[bright music]
The wage gap.
It's the difference between what men and women
earn in America.
Now, the stat we usually hear
is for every dollar a typical man makes,
a woman makes around 80 cents,
which is also 50 Cent's name when adjusted for inflation.
But the wage gap is a bit more complicated
than that 80 cent number,
which is why I'm here to break it all down.
The 80 cent wage gap is the average
of all the money earned by men
versus all the money earned by women.
If you adjust for race and ethnicity, it can get wider.
On the other hand,
if you adjust for employees being paid hourly,
it can get narrower.
So the exact number is really hard to pin down.
It's like splitting a check after a bachelorette dinner.
Look, I assume those vodka bottles were complimentary
so I shouldn't have to pay for them, Elizabeth.
But experts agree the wage gap is real
and if we wanna fix it, we need to understand it.
So, let's start with the good news.
It's actually illegal to pay women less money
for the same work.
In spite of that, women still need to fight for equal pay.
Earlier this year,
the US Women's Soccer Team filed a lawsuit
claiming that they're paid less than the male team,
even though, as they claim in the suit,
the women's team has played more World Cup games,
generated more profit and had a larger audience.
Also, compared to the women's team,
and I cannot stress this enough,
the US male team sucks, you guys, it really sucks.
In 2018, they didn't even qualify.
Meanwhile, the women are out there medaling every time
and winning the whole damn World Cup.
Look, if they're gonna bring glory to our nation,
they shouldn't have to pawn the trophy to get paid.
So, for the Women's National Soccer Team,
equal pay is their goal.
No, that that's not right.
You know what?
I'm just gonna let their all-time leading scorer say it.
-Abby? -Equal pay is our goal!
Much better.
So if that's the struggle for world class athletes,
you know the wage gap is even more challenging
for everyday women.
Let's talk about why.
The major component
is what economists call lifestyle choices,
like starting a family,
which is why the wage gap is higher for women who have kids
and lower for women who never get married.
This is what's called the motherhood penalty,
which could also be the name of a J-Lo movie
where a judge sentences her
to take care of someone else's kids
all while keeping her food truck afloat
and taking care of her blind mother.
I totally see that, by the way.
But in reality, the motherhood penalty
is a long-term financial hit
a woman takes after leaving a job
or going part-time to raise her children,
and those women earn an average of 39% less than men,
as if I didn't deal with enough shit when I was pregnant.
Now, a cold-hearted economist might say,
"What does the free market care?
Why should you get paid for taking time off?"
Well, sir, ow, mother fucker!
What does the free market care?
We are literally birthing the economy's future customers.
Who's gonna buy stocks and cars and jeans
if there are no people left, trees?
Trees wouldn't be caught dead in denim.
And remember, having children is a lifestyle choice
that men also make.
The only differences are, one,
a baby doesn't squeeze its way outta their dick,
and two, a man's income statistically increases
after he has a baby,
which I guess should be called the fatherhood bonus,
which would also be the sequel to that J-Lo movie
starring Gerard Butler,
which I would also see, but enjoy less.
Fortunately, there's some ways
to offset the motherhood penalty and close the wage gap.
Flexible work hours, affordable childcare,
and a national policy of parental leave.
Because America's the only industrialized country
with no policy of paid family leave.
That's right, we put a man on the Moon,
but we can't spare anything to put a mother in a nursery.
I'm kidding, they faked the Moon landing.
But here's some more good news.
We don't have to find solutions on our own.
Iceland has done a lot of that work for us.
They're ranked number one in gender equality
and their paid parental leave policy is a huge reason why.
So it's equally likely
that a man or a woman will take leave
during childbearing years,
which is helping them close the wage gap much quicker.
Female representation.
We've been hearing a lot about it this past year,
like Tide Pods and the undeniable chemistry
in "A Star Is Born."
No, not Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
I'm talking about Sam Elliott in his own mustache.
Where were we?
But why is female representation in America important?
Now, The reason we've been hearing so much
about female representation
is the 2018 midterms.
A record number of women won seats in Congress,
which is great.
But remember, that's only 24% of Congress,
and women make up 51% of the population.
So the vast majority of policy makers
have never even experienced ovulation or childbirth
or cat calling.
Except Ted Cruz, he's definitely been cat called,
except it's usually people shouting, "Smile less."
I feel for you, buddy.
And representation is important.
Research shows that when women are in politics
it's more likely women's rights will advance
in areas like pay equity, healthcare, family leave.
Those are like the Hemsworth brothers of policy.
Plus, women are better at getting stuff done for everyone
'cause we tend to be more bipartisan.
Even I was bipartisan for a brief time in college.
Me and my roommate Abby.
Sometimes I wonder which way she went.
It was the time to experiment.
♪ You were just waiting for me to finally come around ♪
But to understand why we're only at 24% representation,
we need to take a look back at our history.
When America was founded, all of our leaders were men.
The signing of the Declaration of Independence
was a serious sausage fest,
which, by the way, is why we eat so many hot dogs
on the 4th of July.
What a patriot.
The first step in female representation
was fighting for the right to vote,
which began in 1848 at the first Women's Rights Convention.
A group of abolitionists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Lucretia Mott
wrote the Declaration of Sentiments
which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence,
making it not only the beginning of women's suffrage
but also the first all-female reboot.
Thankfully, Twitter trolls hadn't been invented yet.
And those women didn't just talk about representation,
they fought to make it happen.
In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested and tried
for even attempting to vote.
Susan B. was the Cardi B of her time.
You couldn't fuck with her even if you wanted to.
♪ Get your money, yeah ♪
And their struggle ultimately paid off.
In 1920, America ratified the 19th Amendment,
granting women the right to vote,
which meant it was time to party!
Except it was Prohibition,
so we couldn't properly celebrate for another 13 years.
The entire 20th century was full of firsts
for women in government.
The first female representative and senator,
the first major party presidential candidate,
the first Black woman in Congress,
the first Lady Space Princess,
and the first female vice presidential candidate.
We were proving that women belong in powerful jobs
and also bullshit ceremonial jobs like vice president.
Then, after the 1992 election,
the number of women in Congress jumped all the way up to 54
in what became known as the year of the woman.
Though, for me, 1992 was the year of the hammer pant.
I think I pulled it off.
Since then, we've broken even more barriers,
including the first woman Speaker of the House
and first woman to be a major party's nominee for president.
I forget how that election ended.
No!
Let's just move on.
And even after all the progress we've made,
the US is still only ranked 79th
in female representation out of 193 countries,
which, coincidentally, is the same ranking I had
at my high school dive meet.
-[woman screams] -[woman splashes]
-Oh! -Still stinks.
But organizations like Emily's List and She Should Run
are working to fix that
by encouraging women to enter political races.
The E.R.A. stands for the Equal Rights Amendment,
not to be confused with the E.R.A. in baseball
which I've also womansplained.
-God dammit. -[bat clanks]
So, the Equal Rights Amendment.
It was first proposed in the 1920s
by the National Woman's Party.
They're my sheroes.
Anytime there's a 1920s-themed wedding,
I show up dressed as a suffragette.
Elizabeth said I pulled focus, but it was worth it.
The main goal of the E.R.A. is to prohibit discrimination
and guarantee legal equality of the sexes
in the Constitution.
Because remember, nothing in our founding documents
specifically protects the rights of women.
The Founding Fathers said they were gonna add it,
but then they went out for cigarettes and never came back.
Even the Declaration of Independence says,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal."
So, technically, we're less than self-evident, which sucks.
They totally left us out.
It's like leaving all the women
out of the "Hunger Games" posters.
Now they just look like a JV luge team.
And the worst part is America never fixed that oversight.
So that's where the E.R.A. comes in.
It would add the language,
"Equality of rights under the law
shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or any state
on account of sex,"
which shouldn't be controversial.
It's like a free duck boat tour at Disneyland
led by Tom Hanks,
everyone should be on board.
Yet the E.R.A. sat in limbo for 50 years,
until 1972 when it was finally passed
by both Houses of Congress.
-We did it! -[people cheer]
-[bright music] -[time whooshing]
And the E.R.A. felt three states short
after anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly
led a conservative backlash against it.
She even handed out fresh baked bread and apple pie
to get people to vote against the E.R.A.,
which is not fair, okay,
because people love equality, but they love carbs more.
[Desi munching]
So in 2019, women are still not guaranteed equal rights
under the Constitution.
Let me borrow your bat.
Sure.
[Desi screaming]
But there's still hope.
In 2017, Nevada ratified the E.R.A.
Then, in 2018, so did Illinois.
So now it just needs one more state.
-Ding. -[duck quacks]
Damn it. I was hoping that would work.
So now there are 13 possible states
and two very realistic possibilities
include Arizona and Georgia.
If you live in one of those 13 remaining states,
call your senators and ask them to support ratification.
Maybe we can even get this E.R.A. passed
by its 100th birthday,
then we can throw it a surprise party.
We can make it 20s themed.
I've already got my look picked out.
[People] Surprise!
If you also think it's ridiculous we haven't fixed this,
go to SuperMajority.com/cc
to find out how you can be part of the solution.
[upbeat music]