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To the Editor:
"Any woman - indeed, any man - who wishes to earn more can do so by
following Dr. Farrell's advice. Moreover, as he says, anyone who chooses inherently lower-paying work can better appreciate the nonmonetary benefits of the choice.
I am a man who works full time as a secretary - a predominantly female profession - in a large corporate law firm, earning a small fraction of the wages paid to the lawyers. Unlike many of them, however, I usually can leave work at 5 p.m., sleep eight hours a night and have time to go to the gym. I am not paid any more or less than any of my fellow secretaries who are my equals in seniority. And I am not saddled with a mind-set that insists I should be paid as much as our bosses. It is obvious to me that
they work harder, make larger sacrifices for their careers and perform more important work."
Peter Allemano
Manhattan, Feb. 27
The writer is a director of the Greater New York Chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men, which examines sex discrimination issues that affect men.
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Further message from Peter A.: While, of course, I feel delighted that I was able to get NCFM's name into print, at the same time I feel saddened by the need for the TIMES to publish my letter at all. In my opinion, the thoughts conveyed in the letter constitute simple, self-evident truth, and I believe it says something terribly unfortunate about our society's being in the thrall of destructive ideological nonsense that "the paper of record" must quote a
secretary, for heaven's sake, to convey a down-to-earth philosophical
perspective. This observation is by no means intended to disparage myself for being a secretary. Rather, it is to express dismay that those who we ought to be able to trust in academia, government and elsewhere to productively provoke our thinking often can only be counted on to dispense sanctimonious rodomontade and nihilistic folderol."
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Marc A. writes "Peter Allemano of the NY chapter of NCFM just send out the following message that I'd like to convey:
"On page 10 of yesterday's (i.e., 3/6/05) Sunday Business section, THE NEW YORK TIMES published two letters in response to its 2/27/05 article about Warren Farrell. One is a standard-issue, ideological feminist screech about anti-female discrimination and harassment, submitted by Kathy Rodgers, President of Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund), and the other is a highly condensed version of the letter I submitted. Although a "search" for both our names on the TIMES's Web site turns up the fact that our letters were published, the actual text of the letters is not available on line. So here's what the TIMES published of mine:"