A Republican lawmaker from New Hampshire on Wednesday said that women are paid less than men because they don’t work as hard or as often, insisting throughout his speech that his argument was legitimate, despite objections from his fellow lawmakers.
“Men, by and large, make more because of some of the things they do,” state Rep. Will Infantine (R) said during a speech on a paycheck fairness bill. “Their jobs are, by and large, riskier. They don’t mind working nights and weekends. They don’t mind working overtime or outdoors.”
Infantine’s colleagues’ protested almost immediately, to which he responded that he pulled all of his information from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
“This is not me,” he said before continuing to explain why women make less.
“Men work on average more than six hours a week longer than women do,” he said, adding that even among business owners, women earn less. “Women make half of what men do because of flexibility of work, men are more motivated by money than women are.”
At the end of his speech, Infantine defended himself one last time.
“Guys, I’m not making this stuff up,” he said. “My apologies if I have some people upset.”
Watch the video posted by Granite State Progress:
[H/t Raw Story]
Mr Infantine (a name rife with pun possibilities), have you ever watched a woman and tracked her day? Not only does she work a job, she (I shall assume you are married) picks up after you, diapers your kids, cooks your dinner, cleans your house, did I mention laundry? All while you sit and watch TV after your hard days work.
You, sir, are the sort of idiot that gives the male gender a bad name. I would hope your fellow legislators ream you a new one … publicly.
If hard, continuous work were the sole criterion for compensation, most government-subsidized (i.e. undertaxed) trust-funders would live among America’s working poor!
You can’t fix stupid, but you sure can elect it.