Althouse: "Single men earn less money the heavier they are, while single women earn more money the heavier they are."

August 13, 2011

"Single men earn less money the heavier they are, while single women earn more money the heavier they are."

And: "Lesbians earn more money than straight women."

Is this prejudice on the part of employers? Or are individuals with these characteristics working at a different levels of skill/intensity/intelligence?

46 comments:

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: "Single men earn less money the heavier they are, while single women earn more money the heavier they are." And: "Lesbians earn more money than straight women."

I see a possible pattern - perception of 'manliness'.

Fat men = less manly than physically fit men
Heavy women = more manly than thin women
Lesbians = need I say it?; 8/13/11, 10:59 AM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/13/11, 11:04 AM
gerry said...: Hey. I'm not fat. I'm non-slender.

I wonder when I see stuff like this, what professions are they talking about? I wouldn't make squat as a male stripper, but I can analyze db schemas so I can write the hell out of VB scripts and TSQL and create gorgeous MS reports. It pays pretty well.; 8/13/11, 11:06 AM
Lucius said...: Lesbians work at greater levels of bitchiness.; 8/13/11, 11:07 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Govt workers like Clare McCaskell,Barbara Mikulski, Janet Napolitano, two of the women SCOTUS judges, Barbara Lee, Debbi Wasserman Shulz and others tilt the scales [heh] with their fat govt salaries and skew the results in favor of fat women.

So I would agree fat women make more money in govt than non-fat women. Heck, govt work may be hazardous to your physical health but very good for your financial health.; 8/13/11, 11:11 AM
edutcher said...: Does fat in the case of women include buxom?

Heaviness also includes big bazooms and a full tush, Guys tend to pay more if Bubbles McWiggle is the secretary.

In the case of men, there's also the tall thing, so tall and heavy may not look as bad.

As for lesbians, how does one know unless they have to tell everybody? I thought the drill was, "We're just like everyone else"?

Does this mean they're not?; 8/13/11, 11:16 AM
Trooper York said...: Sigh.; 8/13/11, 11:17 AM
X said...: this data undermines the Wisconsin protesters claims.; 8/13/11, 11:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Sixty Grit,

Fat lesbians are common in HR. HR determines who gets hired and what they are paid.

Fat men = lazy.

Fat women = right priorities.

Lesbians = HR.

I've already mentioned that I'd eliminate every HR dept. in the country, haven't I?; 8/13/11, 11:20 AM
Ron said...: The Man of Worldly Girth enjoys the pleasures of food, drink, and rest and will not be enslaved and browbeaten into corporate vassalage. Hence less lettuce!; 8/13/11, 11:21 AM
ndspinelli said...: Will we ever have a fat president again? Clinton was fat..but I'm talking Chris Christie fat.; 8/13/11, 11:24 AM
Palladian said...: Fat? Homosexuality? Poor income?

Jeez, why don't you just slap me, Althouse?; 8/13/11, 11:32 AM
Jeff in Oklahoma said...: Much ado about nothing, presuming you have faith in capitalism (hmm - does the study exclude government employees?). If you have such faith, then the employee is paid on merit, end of story.

Speaking of merit, for those of you who haven't already read Barone's recent article, it is worth your time. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/08/08/americans_want_the_honor_of_earned_success_110850.html; 8/13/11, 11:32 AM
chuck b. said...: "Is this prejudice on the part of employers? Or are individuals with these characteristics working at a different levels of skill/intensity/intelligence?"

How about, "Is it even true, or is it just a bunch of bullshit nonsense?"

Why are some statistics put up for serious debate while others are laughed out the door? Is it a prejudice on someone's part, or do the statistics have characteristics working at different levels?; 8/13/11, 11:44 AM
Cindy Martin said...: Fat men = more lazy, less educatin.
Fat women = more interested in careers than men.; 8/13/11, 11:48 AM
edutcher said...: ndspinelli said...

Will we ever have a fat president again? Clinton was fat..but I'm talking Chris Christie fat.

Willie wasn't fat, he was an overweight slob.

William Howard Taft was fat.; 8/13/11, 11:48 AM
Cindy Martin said...: Should say.

Fat men = lazy, less education.
Fat women = more interested in careers than interested in men.; 8/13/11, 11:50 AM
Palladian said...: "Fat women = more interested in careers than interested in men."

I would think that fat women would be more interested in chocolate.; 8/13/11, 12:09 PM
Trooper York said...: Youse guys.

If you want to see the difference between a plus woman and a skinny one watch TLC's "What Not to Wear" this Tuesday at 9pm EST.

It is the season premiere and part of the show was filmed at Lee Lee's Valise my wife's store.

They always try to use a celebrity but this time they decide to use an assistant who was plus side. She is the personal assistant to Cheryl Burke who runs her ragged.

The assistant: Plus sized, hard worker, lovely girl.

Cheryl Burke:Skinny, nasty, C U Next Tuesday.; 8/13/11, 12:22 PM
Titus said...: I went to a store in a convenience store in Portage on my way back from my parents cottage.

The two "womyn" that owned it were really fucking tough dykes.

One was really skinny with long blonde hair with just a touch of feathering at the top. She had about two teeth.

The other one was huge, with a mullet, and really bad teeth.

They both were smoking and eating a tombstone.; 8/13/11, 12:33 PM
Titus said...: They both were drinking Mountain Dew.

Wisconsin loves its Mountain Dew.

Go into any convenience store and the Mountain Dew supply is double any other beverage.; 8/13/11, 12:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Now if I were hiring women for a job I'd make all of them comply with a particular standard.

And you all know what that standard is.

Peter; 8/13/11, 12:44 PM
Doubting Richard said...: Heavy or lesbian women are less likely to get pregnant, so less risk of losing them at a critical time.; 8/13/11, 12:56 PM
mariner said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/13/11, 1:01 PM
DADvocate said...: Fat men = lazy, less education.
Fat women = more interested in careers than interested in men.

Maybe. Are fat women less interested in men or men less interested in them? Either way, they have extra time to devote to a career.

Similar situation for the over whelming majority of lesbians, no men, no kids, plus the realization that there quite likely never be a sugar daddy or sugar momma. More time and more motivation to devote to a career.; 8/13/11, 1:02 PM
DADvocate said...: Titus - Mountain Dew, yahoo!! One of my measures of redneckedness is drinking Mountain Dew. This struck me once when I was eating in a restaurant once and a group of rednecks sat at the table next to me. They all ordered Mountain Dew.

A couple of country lesbians live 3 houses down from me. Nice enough and keep to themselves. Their yard is about 4 acres which they keep impeccably trimmed. They have matching John Deere lawn tractors and always mow as a pair. I get a kick out of that.; 8/13/11, 1:07 PM
traditionalguy said...: The common denominator is the desires of women. They run the actual world, you know.

Women arrange to get more of what they desire which is:
1) Attractive men, and
2)unattractive women to compete with for the men they desire.

#2 is demonstrated by the rejection on sight of Sarah Palin by most women.

#1 is demonstrated by the way the Professor arranged for herself a husband.; 8/13/11, 1:11 PM
Carol_Herman said...: Statiscally, this is done by pulling numbers out of someone's ass. That's why there's a lesbian/homosexual reference.

Seems people don't know how you get a number in your ass, so you can pull it out.; 8/13/11, 1:15 PM
Carol_Herman said...: You know what didn't get counted?

Wendi Deng Murdoch!

How'd she get so close to billions and billions? She married a billionaire. And, then the two of them produced two kids ... Pissing off the 3 chldren Murdoch had in other marriages ... because they saw a 3 way pot ... that's gonna have to be split, ahead, five ways.

Oh, Rupert Murdoch's also thin. He led his company last year to $2.7-BILLION in profits.

How did he do that?; 8/13/11, 1:19 PM
Titus said...: I drank Mountain Dew religiously as a child and into my teens.

Mountain Dew and Tombstone Pizzas.

I moved out East and it was a little harder finding the Dews.

And forget about Tombstone pizzas out there.

Of course, I was made fun of for drinking the Dew. So I stopped.

They used to call me Ellie May, from The Beverly Hillbillies. Or Laverne from Laverne and Shirley. The East Coast Elite hurt me because I am kind of Red Neck.

Group Hug.; 8/13/11, 1:40 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Women --> pushy (and often have to be)
Fat women --> pushy with an attitude
Lesbian women --> add a big chip on their shoulder
"African-American" women --> probably double each and all of the above.

Now, who is it that's over-represented in the TSA?

Oh. Bad dog! No cookie.; 8/13/11, 1:45 PM
Joanne Jacobs said...: Single working women earn much more than married working women. The single woman has to make her job a top priority, while the married woman can choose to invest more in family life. That's why lesbians earn more.

Single men earn significantly less than married men, who are likely to take on the job as primary wage-earner.

Single women earn more than single men.

I don't know why fat women would earn more than average-weight women, assuming the study controlled for age.; 8/13/11, 2:16 PM
edutcher said...: Trooper York said...

Youse guys.

If you want to see the difference between a plus woman and a skinny one watch TLC's "What Not to Wear" this Tuesday at 9pm EST.

It is the season premiere and part of the show was filmed at Lee Lee's Valise my wife's store.

Troop, if that's Mrs Troop modeling the Janet Maxi and the Stephanie Sweetheart, she's a great example of how good-looking a plus can be.

So, I might add, is The Blonde.; 8/13/11, 2:26 PM
Trooper York said...: That's our daughter.

The wife is modeling the Rosemarie Ruffle Dress.; 8/13/11, 2:35 PM
edutcher said...: Your wife is a very pretty lady, too.

And I like that spark in her eye.

And the dash in her smile.

And the cut of her jib.; 8/13/11, 3:14 PM
Paul said...: I guess thin men work harder that fat ones as they have more drive and fat women work harder than thin since thin ones attract more men and thus are preoccupied.)

And as for lesbians, I bet without a man they tend to spend more time working since most homosexuals, male or female, are not monogamous and thus have their sex and go back home.

Yes it sounds kind of awful but that is life.; 8/13/11, 3:19 PM
fivewheels said...: It's obviously just pure discrimination that must be remedied by government action.

That's what feminists tell us about the so-called gender pay gap. No further investigation of other factors or circumstances can be tolerated. It's all discrimination. All of it. La-la-la-la-la I can't hear you!; 8/13/11, 3:51 PM
John henry said...: What about gay men?

I seem to recall that they earn more than non-gay men.

(But I could be working from faulty recollections)

John Henry; 8/13/11, 3:55 PM
Garrick Williams said...: As far as men go, I'd say skinny men are probably more confident, which will lead to more aggressive negotiating and better earnings.

For women, heavier women are more likely to be single longer into their career (not getting snapped up by sugar daddies). Also, people tend to get heavier as they age. So if we're only looking at singles, the average heavy single lady might be older and more experienced than her skinner colleague.

Lesbians are more concentrated in urban areas where they are more accepted and have more resources for their lifestyle. Urban salaries are higher.; 8/13/11, 4:51 PM
ndspinelli said...: Lesbians fall into 2 general categories. There are lesbians who love women, and I do quite well w/ that group. Then there are lesbians who hate men..I don't do well @ all w/ these women.

I believe I should state for the record, when I say I "do quite well" I'm speaking about getting along and working w/ this group.; 8/13/11, 6:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Or are individuals with these characteristics working at a different levels of skill/intensity/intelligence?

Yes but.. where does my sense of humor fit here?; 8/13/11, 8:21 PM
bearing said...: I suspect they got the cause and effect backwards, at least for women.

It should probably read: Single women who work at lucrative (white-collar? desk?) jobs tend to gain weight.; 8/13/11, 9:07 PM
Known Unknown said...: Also, people tend to make more money as they get older.

Most also get fatter as they get older.; 8/13/11, 9:55 PM
VanderDouchen said...: I scanned this looking for ella binsburg's take on the situation, and her opine is nowhwere to be found! My gracious! One would expect shim input on something as important as this; something that fits into her concerns as stated in shim profile. But, alas, no input from ella binsburg. I'm saddened.

WV: shize:

no shit.; 8/13/11, 11:27 PM
Eric said...: Who is likely to be heavier... the waitress who runs around all day or the project manager who sits in her cubicle fiddling with spreadsheets?

I think the causality arrow is probably reversed here.; 8/14/11, 1:38 AM
richard mcenroe said...: That's because a heavy lesbian will beat the shit out of you if you mess with her paycheck...; 8/14/11, 2:01 PM