Ask A Stupid Question

A lot of people are making something of Miss Utah's rambling answer to a question asked during the Miss USA Pageant.



But I'd rather concentrate on how stupid the question was.  If anything, it's more incoherent than what Miss Utah said--and the writer of the question had plenty of time to prepare it.

A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?

Let's unpack this a bit.  There are several issues mashed together, so where would one start to answer? (I'm not saying that there aren't empty, mindless responses that would satisfy the judges, but I'm trying to deal with the issues actually brought up, not talk in slogans.)

First, there's the point about women earning less than men.  How meaningful is that, unless we're talking about people with approximately the same education, the same job and who work equally hard and well?  Is the questioner suggesting we should ignore all that and just ensure that women make on average the same as men, or the government force women and men to be represented equally in all jobs?

Then the question brings up an issue that seems only tangentially related--that women are the primary earners in 40 percent of familes.  What are we supposed to do with that?  Should a woman go to her boss and say "I'm the primary earner in my family so give me a raise"? If you think there's something to that, then note it would have been a good argument for men to make more money than women (for the same job) in the past. And the question also brings children into the equation. Once again, can you go to your boss and say "I have kids so give me a raise"?

In any case the 40 percent figure needs to be explained better.  Why are these women the primary earners?  Because the husband is out of a job?  Because the woman has a better job?  Because the father left? Because the father is dead?  We're mixing up a lot of things here, so to throw in this figure as if it means something by itself isn't helpful.

And in an attempt to wrap things up, the question ends with the all-purpose "what does this say about society?" Since what's been said is already pretty confused, it's hard to draw bigger conclusions.  But even if you could, there are other factors to explore.  For instance, how have these numbers you're referring to changed through the years?  And how do other societies compare?

As far as I'm concerned, Miss Utah gave the question the answer it deserved.