This Gender Thing is History

But let me tell you, this gender thing is history. You're looking at a guy who sat down with Margaret Thatcher across the table and talked about serious issues.
--George H. W. Bush

I don't know whether to be appalled or incredulous about the World Gender Equality rankings. Didn't we solve this question a number of years ago? I mean, there's only four areas of assessment: differences between men and women's salaries, access to education, political representation and health including life expectancy. Shouldn't we be doing better? It makes me wonder if there still people in the U.S. that would agree that it's permissible to pay women less for doing the same job.

Salaries, access to education, health? I'm willing to hear arguments about political representation and potentially consider that a person doesn't necessarily have to look like me to represent my beliefs, but the other standards are undoubtedly factors we talk about in the U.S. as points of pride, right? Maybe I've got this all wrong, but I'm pretty sure I learned in school, "America is better, cuz we're free and equal." Damn teachers, lied to me.