Marching into the past -- Phyllis Schlafly tells why women should not be paid as much as men

You need to be of a certain age to know who Phyllis Shlafly is.  Born in 1924, she was an outspoken opponent of feminism and equal rights for women.  At the 1960 Republican National Convention, she led a revolt of "moral conservatives" against the more liberal Richard Nixon camp.

In the wake of Senate Republicans' unanimous vote that blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act last week, Schlafly published an op-ed in the Christian Post, saying that providing women with equal pay for equal work would deter their chances of finding a "suitable mate."

She starts with the assertion that women prefer mates who earn more than they do.  Therefore, if you eliminate the pay gap, "simple arithmetic suggests that half the women would be unable to find what they regard as a suitable mate."

Wait, it gets better.   She further says that women do not deserve equal pay because they "work fewer hours per day, per week, per year . . . [and they] place a much higher value on pleasant working conditions:  a clean, comfortable, air-conditioned office with congenial co-workers."

She concludes that the best way to empower women "is to improve job prospects for the men in their lives."

She is definitely a voice from the 1950's to the 1970's.   It's safe to assume that she and Gloria Steinem were not best gal-pals.

But it's striking how the right wing of the current GOP is marching back there to meet her.   Watch for her to be keynotes speaker at the next convention.

Ralph