Chutzpah, thy name is Megan Rapinoe. After losing 5-2 in 2017 to the Dallas FC Under-15 squad — yes, that would be boys with, in certain cases, high-pitched voices — Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNST) still want the men’s money.
The scene of Rapinoe’s latest descent into utter audacity was the White House, where Joe and Jill Biden had a roundtable discussion with USWNST members on Wednesday, which was “Equal Pay Day.”
For the uninitiated, know that this day isn’t devoted to equalizing the pay gap between whites and Asian-descent Americans (the latter make more), between Christians and Jews, between uncompensated pubescent boy soccer players and the wealthy female pros they beat, or any other groups. Rather, discriminating among the disparity phenomena, the focus is on just a specific one: the gap between men and women.
Moreover, because this aim isn’t confined to the soccer realm but is applied to the general population, it actually hurts women (more on that later). As NBC News reports (and distorts):
Wednesday marked “Equal Pay Day” — which is how far into the year women must work on average to make up the pay disparity between what men and women earned the prior year. The Census Bureau estimates that a woman working full-time would earn about 82 cents for each dollar paid to a man.
Biden and his wife, Jill, hosted a roundtable with Margaret Purce and Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, and other members of the squad who attended virtually. The president then signed a proclamation honoring the day.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re an electrician, an accountant or part of the best damn soccer team in the world,” Biden said. “The pay gap is real. And this team is living proof that you can be the very best at what you do and still have to fight for equal pay.”
For the record, the “best damn soccer team in the world” would be, at least according to the current FIFA rankings, the Belgian men’s team. Speaking of which, there’s a good answer for the USWNST, whose Rapinoe told Biden, “I’ve been devalued, I’ve been disrespected and dismissed because I’m a woman.” To wit: If you want the men’s money, there’s a very simple way to get it.
Play in the men’s league and succeed.
(Or they could just beg for it; they are used to spending time on their knees, after all.)
I mean, really, isn’t this what you’d tell a lightweight boxer who complained that he wanted the heavyweights’ money?
Biden shouldn’t think this would be difficult for the USWNST, either, as on Equal Pay Day he said the below.
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