Becka Wall, Program Assistant

Scientists recently did an experiment regarding equal pay with Capuchin monkeys, and the results were interesting - and obvious. The Capuchin who had been underpaid with a piece of cucumber instead of with a grape for performing exactly the same task repeatedly threw it at the experimenter in protest.

Go, Capuchin monkeys!

As an article by Kasey Edwards in Daily Life notes, the monkey’s demand for equal pay for equal work appeared to be a natural instinct, but it is difficult for women to negotiate their wages when they don’t know if they are being paid less for the same work.

Unlike grapes and cucumbers distributed in clear plastic containers in full view of the monkeys, paychecks for humans come in sealed envelopes, and most employers either explicitly prohibit discussions of pay or discourage employees from disclosing wages to their coworkers. It’s difficult to challenge unfair pay practices when a female worker has no idea what her male coworker sitting across the hall is making.

Yesterday a Taliban member in Pakistan approached a school bus, asked for 14 year old student Malala Yousufzai, and when a classmate identified her, he shot her in the head and neck and injured two others. Malala was targeted for speaking out against the Taliban for murdering locals and closing girls’ schools at a time when the government seemed to be appeasing the extremist group. She is in critical condition, and doctors believe that her wounds aren’t life threatening. At this time, she appears to be doing well after having a bullet removed from her head.

Malala was featured in a New York Times documentary a few years back, telling reporters that she wanted to be a doctor; her father encouraged her to go on to become a politician. In 2009, she kept a diary series for the BBC, discussing her fears about going to school and retaliation from the Taliban:

“SATURDAY 3 JANUARY: I AM AFRAID

I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.