- 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".
(upbeat instrumental music)
(image rips) 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 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
but 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 say one of those (people laughing)
vodka bottles were complimentary
so I shouldn't have to pay for them, Elizabeth.
(women gasp) (object clangs)
But experts agree the wage gap is real
and if 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 U.S. 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 U.S. male team sucks, you guys.
It really sucks. (crowd boos)
In 2018, they didn't even qualify.
Meanwhile, the women are out there
medaling every time (crowd cheers)
at 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'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 (gavel taps)
to take care of (sweeping music)
someone else's kids (children cry)
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.
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--
(mustache rips) Ow!
Motherfucker. (sighs)
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.
- Ah.
- And remember, having children is a lifestyle choice
that men also make,
the only differences are, one, a baby doesn't squeeze
its way out of their dick (person screams)
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 (pensive instrumental music)
starring Gerard Butler, which I would also see
but enjoy less.
Fortunately, (upbeat instrumental music)
there are 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 Star-Spangled Banner")
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. (child cries)
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.
(image rips) 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 and his own mustache.
(romantic instrumental music)
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.
(person whistles) Except Ted Cruz.
He's definitely been catcalled,
except it's usually people shouting, "Smile less."
(image whimpers) I feel for ya, 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, and family leave.
Those are like the Hemsworth brothers of policy.
(thunder cracks)
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.
(melancholy instrumental music)
Sometimes I wonder which way she went.
Ah, it was the time to experiment.
♪ You were just waiting for me ♪
♪ to finally come around ♪
- (claps) 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. (marching music)
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 Fourth of July.
(people gulping)
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.
(images pop)
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, yo ♪
- And their struggles ultimately paid off.
In 1920, America ratified the 19th Amendment
granting women the right to vote,
which meant it was time to party.
(cork pops) (whistles screech)
Except it was prohibition so we couldn't properly celebrate
for another 13 years.
(crowd sighs)
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. (euphoric instrumental music)
Though for me, 1992 was the wear of the Hammer pant.
(upbeat instrumental music)
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 U.S. 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.
(person screams)
(water splashes) (crowd screams)
Still stings.
But organizations like Emily's list and She Should Run
are working to fix that by encouraging women
to enter political races.
(image rips) The E.R.A. stands for
the Equal Rights Amendment,
not to be confused with the ERA in baseball
which I've also womansplained.
(crowd murmuring)
(bat whooshes)
Uh, goddamn it.
(bat clacks)
So, the Equal Right Amendment.
It was first proposed in the 1920s
by the National Woman's Party.
They're my sheroes.
Any time there's a 1920s-themed wedding,
I show up dressed ("Wedding March")
as a suffragette.
Elizabeth said I pulled focus but it was worth it.
The main goal of the E.R.A. (patriotic instrumental music)
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 (door creaks)
and never came back. (feet clack)
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 of them women out
of "The Hunger Games" posters.
(image pops) Now they just look like
a JV luge team.
And the worst part is America can never fix 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 to 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.
(duck quacks)
Yet, the E.R.A. sat in limbo for 50 years
until 1972 (patriotic instrumental music)
when it was finally passed by both houses of Congress.
We did it. (crowd cheers)
(streamers pop) (whistles screech)
(upbeat instrumental music)
And the E.R.A. fell 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.
(birds chirping)
So in 2019, women are still not guaranteed equal rights
under the Constitution.
Let me borrow your bat.
Sure.
Ah, ah, ah!
But there's still hope.
In 2017, Nevada ratified the E.R.A.,
(image dings) then in 2018
so did Illinois.
(image dings) So now,
it just needs one more state.
Ding. (duck quacks)
Dammit, 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.
(gasps) We can make it '20s themed.
I've already got my look picked out.
- [Group] 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 instrumental music)