The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hates Women and Equality

If you ever doubted that women's rights, equality, and protection were not scorned by the Republican/libertarian pro-business ethos, think again.

On Wednesday, the 90th anniversary of women's suffrage, blogger Brad Peck of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce posted an offensive blog entry, "Equality, Suffrage and a Fetish for Money," blaming women for the wage gap. For starters, as Firedoglake noted, he put "full equality" and "pay gap" in scare quotes, to demonstrate that these are not "real" problems. According to Peck, women are to blame for inequality in achievement and pay because they choose to have kids. Moreover, he wrote, women who do want professional success have a "money fetish" because the other (baby-making) side of life doesn't fulfill them.

The cherry on top is when Peck compares women's demands for government intervention like fair pay laws to — well, just read it for yourself: "Are gym-man’s broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and ripped torso appropriate objects of envy by couch-potato man?  Is this envy a social problem demanding government action? ... Should government force gym-man to share his beautiful babes with couch-potato man?"

To start, let's just acknowledge how man-centric this world view is, that Peck can't even make a point without glorifying men with bulging biceps and referring to "babes" as objects that can be passed around. Next, there's Peck's, and his gym-going Adonises', fear of unequal treatment, citing progress for women as dangerous subjugation for men. In reality, the push for equality and opportunity exist to remedy the systemic inequality of our society, much of which manifests in the workplace. Even affirmative action policies, which vastly helped women, were aimed at creating a more equal world. Peck reaps the benefit of an unequal society and wants to keep it that way; his fear of unequal treatment is a fear of losing his privilege.  The dizzying lack of respect, much less comprehension of what it is like to be anything but a white man, is staggering.

Peck's dismissive tone towards women did not go over well in the comment section. Dozens of women responders felt compelled to tell Peck, in the words of one polite mother, "I would sincerely like you to know that you can kiss my ass."  Not only did the comment section blow-up, so did the the Internets. And the Chamber of Commerce, realizing its error, offered a lame apology here.

But don't be fooled by the Chamber's damage control. They are unabashedly anti-women, and have a record of opposing women's rights for decades.  Here's a few quick hits (h/t Michael Whitney): in 1977, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed amending the Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination against pregnant women as well as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978; fast-forward to the 21st century, when they pledge “all out war” against Family Medical Leave Act and opposed Senator Al Franken's successful effort to allow victims of rape to sue their employer. Seriously, these guys are so religiously pro-business they are against legal rights for rape victims.

One commenter asked, do you write for The Onion? But you can't make this stuff up. There is a powerful ideology that business's selfish interests are sacrosanct, even over civil rights. The Chamber's slip this week reveals the disdain they have for women's well-being, and they have a history of harmful advocacy to back it up.

Photo credit: Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign, Brave New Films