# All-Male Fox Panel Freaks Out About Female Breadwinners **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 30, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744 "2013-05-30T20:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/21 "2013-05-30T22:54:00Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Hey, rats are really nice to each other, and have been shown in studies to care enough about each other to forgo treats in order to help a cagemate. I’ve personally witnessed my pet rats taking care of their injured friend, and bringing food and grooming her to help her out. Rats are awesome. Fox News guys are more like… I dunno… bacteria or something. Oh, they \*are \*very sweet, especially the caged pet kind. The fathers are crap fathers by human standards, though. Bang and run, love, there’s more baby rats to be made elsewhere! 😉 (Now I’m imagining a rat singing “Freebird”.) ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/22 "2013-05-30T23:09:01Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Well it’s a panel of late middle aged men… Erick Erickson is about to turn 38. I’m about to turn 43. I’ll just check into the nursing home now. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/23 "2013-05-30T23:27:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They’re just reporting the biological truth that somebody’s got to stay home and somebody’s got to go out and hunt the giraffes. My husband is squeamish about killing and butchering dinner, so I guess I’m going to have to get that giraffe. I’m sure he’ll do the staying at home thing quite well. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/24 "2013-05-30T23:28:28Z")
> [@Strainger](#): > > Erick Erickson is about to turn 38. I’m about to turn 43. I’ll just check into the nursing home now. I’m afraid the Baby Boomers got there first . . . You’ll have to develop a tolerance for certain . . . smells. :o It’s incense! That’s it, incense! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/25 "2013-05-31T12:02:12Z")
Where has it be determined that we should look to the animal world (other than human beings) to decide how human being should act? Why don’t we go by what has be learned to be good for the family: Equal pay for equal work and equal work at home. That is the emotionally intelligent and rational way to approach coupling. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/26 "2013-05-31T12:15:16Z")
When I first met and started dating my gf, I always grabbed every check. I knew she was in “advertising” and stupidly assumed she was a secretary of some sort. Eventually I found out she is a VP in a big firm, and her take-home is 2.25 x mine. :o No complaints. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/27 "2013-05-31T12:30:58Z")
Did the panel have any recommendations if you find yourself in a situation where your wife makes more? I’m the bigger earner in my family right now but my wife is coming up fast. She has been successful and worked hard for a long time and her salary is a bigger and bigger part of our income these days. Should I force her to quit and stay home? Or maybe I should just embarrass her at the next office party so she doesn’t get any more promotions? Maybe encourage her to quit her office job and take shift work at McDonald’s? I will confess that I enjoy the money my wife earns but if the Fox news panel feels like we are destroying America then I guess we need to cut out our hard-working ways. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/28 "2013-05-31T12:42:55Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Don’t let Fox News find out about [this.](http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/01/staggering-college-degree-gap-favoring-women-who-have-earned-9-million-more-college-degrees-than-men-since-1982/) Hell, what about [THIS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglerfish#Reproduction)? ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/29 "2013-05-31T13:01:34Z")
[Like we’ve never seen this before.](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/birth-control-hearing-was-like-stepping-into-a-time-machine/) Ignorant Christian conservatives don’t like change. Alert the press. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/30 "2013-05-31T15:00:45Z")
It’s destroying America because with all those women working, who will be making our sandwiches? We’re all gonna starve to death I tells ya!!! ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/31 "2013-05-31T15:34:41Z")
First to correct the record, the all male panel was not about birth control, the title of the hearing was “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion & Freedom of Conscience.” Testifying was a RC bishop, the President of a Lutheran Synod, Two religion professors, and the Rabbi who runs a institute for the study of the Torah. There was a second panel in the afternoon section which had two women on it, both of whom were administrators for Christian colleges. The Democrats on the committe could have scheduled a woman on the panel but chose instead the Director of Americans United for the Seperation of Church and State, who later backed out when it was decided that the Democrat congreswomen would walk out. The video in the OP tries to conflate opinions on two different topics. One is single motherhood which pretty much everyone agrees is bad. It is hard on the single mother who has to do the work of two people at home while trying to hold down a full time job. It is also hard on the kids who are more prone to crime, dropping out of school, depression, and a host of other issues. It is also bad for society since it produces kids who are more prone to crime and less educated. The phenomenon of women outearning their husbands can be bad since it is correlated with higher levels of divorce and marriage dissatisfaction but it is nowhere near the problem that single parenthood is. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/32 "2013-05-31T15:39:45Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > The phenomenon of women outearning their husbands can be bad since it is correlated with higher levels of divorce and marriage dissatisfaction Cite please. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/33 "2013-05-31T15:58:34Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > First to correct the record, the all male panel was not about birth control Interesting debate tactic. Raise an claim that nobody had made and refute it. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/34 "2013-05-31T16:23:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Interesting debate tactic. Raise an claim that nobody had made and refute it. Hot Fling Wok had linked to a blog post entitled “Birth Control hearing was like stepping into a time machine” Which is what I was referring to. As an aside I have seen time machines in the movies and none of them resemble a birth control hearing. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/35 "2013-05-31T16:29:55Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Cite please. [Here one is.](http://jfi.sagepub.com/content/31/10/1305.abstract) And since you should never believe only one study, [here is another (pdf)](http://www.economics.cornell.edu/Uploads/Bertrand%20paper.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/36 "2013-05-31T16:33:43Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > The phenomenon of women outearning their husbands can be bad since it is correlated with higher levels of divorce and marriage dissatisfaction but it is nowhere near the problem that single parenthood is. While this may well be true, the “bad” part of it is likely husbands who can’t handle not being the primary breadwinner, not the wife bringing home more money. Thus, the cure would be changing social mores, not trying to lock them in place. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/37 "2013-05-31T16:42:14Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > While this may well be true, the “bad” part of it is likely husbands who can’t handle not being the primary breadwinner, not the wife bringing home more money. Thus, the cure would be changing social mores, not trying to lock them in place. Or just nip this thing in the bud and stop educating women, then the men folk won’t have to worry about their wives making more than them and ruining the marriage. Seriously, **puddleglum** , those statistics correlate to horse shit. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/38 "2013-05-31T16:54:51Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Or just nip this thing in the bud and stop educating women, then the men folk won’t have to worry about their wives making more than them and ruining the marriage. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yeah, you’d be monogamous too, if your wife were bigger than you. It’s the only safe option. > [@Human\_Action](#): > > While this may well be true, the “bad” part of it is likely husbands who can’t handle not being the primary breadwinner, not the wife bringing home more money. Thus, the cure would be changing social mores, not trying to lock them in place. So women are getting more degrees and are much more likely to be single parents, but are only the breadwinner in 40% of families with children. Women really aren’t pulling their weight. Layabouts. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/39 "2013-05-31T16:56:14Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > While this may well be true, the “bad” part of it is likely husbands who can’t handle not being the primary breadwinner, not the wife bringing home more money. Thus, the cure would be changing social mores, not trying to lock them in place. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744/40 "2013-05-31T17:08:23Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Cite? Well, what do you think causes this effect, if it exists? High-earning women deciding they are too good for their current husbands? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-male-fox-panel-freaks-out-about-female-breadwinners/659744.md?page=3)