Why men earn more

Longtime gender fairness advocate Warren Farrell will be on ABC's 20/20 Friday night (May 27th at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific, 9 pm Central) to talk about the themes in his important new book, Why Men Earn More. Here's how Publisher's Weekly describes Farrell's book:

Why do men earn more than women? Because they deserve to, argues this contrarian challenge to feminist conventional wisdom. Men work longer hours at more dangerous and disagreeable jobs. They more readily accept night shifts, hardship postings to Alaska and entrepreneurial risks. Men get in-demand degrees in engineering, while women get degrees in French literature. Female librarians earn less than garbagemen, not because of discrimination, but because so many applicants compete for the safe, clean, comfortable, convenient, fulfilling jobs women prefer. Indeed, the author insists, statistics show that women and men with equal experience and qualifications, doing the same job, for the same hours, under the same conditions-get paid the same. Farrell, author of The Myth of Male Power, usefully points women towards high-paying, male-dominated fields that are becoming female friendly and suggests that ambitious women marry stay-at-home husbands. But he considers men the real victims, taken advantage of because of their innate chivalry and social expectations that they trade earning power for love and sex and be "willing to die to support the wives and children."

Farrell is one of the best thinkers around when it comes to men-women issues. He is the only man ever elected three times to the Board of the National Organization for Women in NYC, back in the days when feminism was actually about attaining legal equality, rather than demanding preferential treatment, for women. Over the years his focus has shifted to equal tretment men against the onslaught of feminist special pleading. Warren has been a strong advocate for what's best for kids in custody disputes. Fact: Study after study show that kids do best when both parents are actively involved in their lives (assuming, of course, that both parents are fit, not addicted or abusive, etc.).