I love this column. Sarah Mirk for mayor.

Wait: Have you ever hit a woman and shut up about it for 20 years, Smirk?

Good news! I make more than a woman with an advanced degree, even though I have a BA in English.

You don't make more than me honey...

But seriously, $55,000 for an advanced degree...we must have a lot of English Majors in this town...

In a highly competitive capitalist system, the question is : why are not employers slashing labor costs and hiring just women then?

At my first job in journalism I was paid 25,000GBP and given the investment patch. Six years later I learned that the female features writer and marketing reporter hired at the same time were paid seven grand less, each, despite having almost identical job responsibilities.

A law that forced employers to post salaries of all employees in a public location would help this a lot. We have this taboo about talking about how much we make. At my current company, it's in the employee handbook that you're not supposed to talk to coworkers about your salary. How is one supposed to know if their salary is subpar under these hush hush rules?