TOPEKA — A Hutchinson state representative purportedly declared aloud during a bipartisan Kansas House floor recognition of Women’s History Month that women earned less in the workplace because men worked with more intensity at their jobs, two female legislators said.
The ceremony before the Kansas Legislature adjourned until April 25 involved eight Republican and Democratic women legislators who honored females who broke U.S. professional barriers and who shared their despair at women receiving 82 cents for every $1 earned by men.
Rep. Heather Meyer, a Democrat from Overland Park, said in an interview Wednesday that Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Republican seeking a third term in the House, said aloud a reason for the salary disparity was that men had a stronger work ethic. She heard the remark last week while sitting at her House floor desk next to Rep. Linda Featherston, D-Overland Park. Waggoner’s desk is behind those of Featherston and Meyer.
“I hear from behind me, ‘That’s because we work harder,’” Featherston said. “I hear lots of comments behind me and I usually just let it go because it’s not worth it. But that was too far. So, I turned around and I told him that I worked three jobs to put my husband through med school, and I certainly worked as hard as he ever did. I turned back around, and then I heard him say, ‘Well, it’s a statistical fact.’ And that’s when I was really like, OK, fine, you want to double down on this.”
She said she was so startled by Waggoner’s conclusions that she neglected to mention she had two preschoolers at home while she supported her husband’s pursuit of a medical education.
In a brief interview, Waggoner said Meyer and Featherston weren’t portraying his remark accurately. He declined to elaborate at that time, but later sent a statement by email to the Kansas Reflector.
Waggoner said a female legislator addressing the full House about Women’s History Month had noted in her speech the wage gap between men and women widened after a woman gave birth.
“I said, to myself, something to the effect that, ‘Well, married men then work harder and longer,’ which is a known fact that is well established,” Waggoner said. “Featherston, surprisingly having heard my comment, turned around and said, ‘Well, I worked two jobs to put my husband through med school.’ At which point, the matter was dropped.”
“My comment was about married men and I stand by it,” he said. “You can Google the topic and find much the same analysis. It has nothing to do with the average woman’s earning either before or after marriage. It was just about males.”
In April 2019, the Hutchinson News reported Waggoner used the derogatory term “harpies” to refer to women while considering an invitation to speak at meetings of the Hutchinson chapter of Women for Kansas. The organization’s mission was to “restore integrity, transparency and fiscal responsibility and balance to Kansas by electing moderates to public office.”
Waggoner, a conservative Republican, appears to have mistakenly sent an email to Betty Taylor, the chapter’s co-leader, that was addressed to “Allie,” whom Waggoner asked for advice on whether to accept requests from Women for Kansas.
“Do you think I should ever do this in the future?” Waggoner asked in that email. “Since I can speak to liberals and conservatives? Or, would this just bring out the harpies?”
The term harpy refers to a predatory or shrewish person. In Greek mythology, it defined a foul creature with the face of a woman and body of a bird. English playwright William Shakespeare used the word to refer to a nasty or annoying woman.
Meyer, who at times was the primary household wage earner when her husband was temporarily out of work, said she and Featherston initially looked at each other in shock because it would be inappropriate for a legislator to articulate what could be viewed as a defense of gender pay inequities while watching his peers honor Women’s History Month.
“It’s pretty hurtful,” Meyer said. “We can’t really tackle the root of the issue, because the men in charge are the root of the issue.”
