I recently watched an infuriating debate between Jordan Peterson and a Channel 4 host. Jordan Peterson is a Canadian doctor and a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He is also a public speaker and, in my opinion, a misogynist.
In listening to this debate, I have no doubt that this man and I would not get along. He completely generalized all women claiming them to be more agreeable than men and that is why the pay gap exists. To summarize, he is claiming that the personality of women is what causes them to be paid less than their male counterparts. Women are nice and men are not. Therefore, women deserve to be paid less than men. He then goes on to claim that women choose careers that pay less than men. However, he completely ignores the systematic history of women being forced into “feminine” careers such as clerk-work while men have always been applauded for chasing larger aspirations.
Next, he goes on to say that women are forced to grow up quicker than men because they have to build families before men do…
First of all, all women are different. Some women want children, while others do not. There are also other ways to go about building a family without a woman getting pregnant. The greatest issue that I have with his statement, though, is that he is claiming that women are in charge of the family. If women need to get their lives together earlier, as he is claiming, then by default he is also arguing that men do not have as much responsibility to the family as a woman does. This is misogynistic, it is limiting the male role as an equal parent and placing the role of caregiver on only the woman. He is assuming the 1950s-esque ideal of a woman in the house while the man earns the income.
His tone is so patriarchal and condescending towards his female counterpart. He calls her non-agreeable, and claims that is a masculine trait. Essential, Jordan Peterson is telling women that to be successful they need to be more like men as “smart, conscientious, and tough.” This is so infuriating. If women and men are doing the same job, then they should receive the same pay without battling and assuming masculine traits.
He keeps going back and forth about what he is claiming. He claims women need to be smarter, but then claims that women are just as smart as their male counterparts. He is literally arguing that female traits are not desirable in the workforce. If you want to be successful, you need to be either a man, or act like a man. To be your own (generalized) self, you need to ignore all “feminine” traits.
