The YWCA in New Zealand has come up with a unique way to bring attention to the gender pay gap. For one day only, the organization set up a coffee cart on the lawn of Wellington’s Victoria University Law School campus and sold coffee drinks at different prices based on gender, with men being charged 10% more than female customers. The campaign — a part of the Demand Equal Pay movement — has been organized to highlight the fact that women in New Zealand get paid an average 10% less then men do.
Campaign organizer Lisa Fedyszyn had hoped that the event would rile men up and get them as outraged over the gender wage imbalance as women are and, while it’s had its intended effect on some, many others have missed the point and are ready to hop on the “MEAN DUMB FEMINISTS, HOW IS CHARGING US MORE EQUALITY???!?!” Crybaby Express. What critics are missing, of course, are the basic math skills that let this make sense. On average, women are always paying more for the exact same item because the price consumes a larger percentage of their more meager salaries.