Melanie Ross Levin, Director of Outreach

We all have one. And some of us have more than one. That distant family member, who you only see at weddings and funerals. That sort of a friend-of-a-friend from college, who you don’t really remember, but he must be ok because you have friends in common. Or that old neighbor who you used to babysit for and help shovel snow.

So when the friend request pops up on your computer, you don’t feel like you have much of a choice. Saying no makes you feel like one of the jerky kids on Forrest Gump that deny Forest a seat on the bus. So instead of saying “taken” you take the plunge and say “accepted.” Who doesn’t want more “friends?”

But now you have a problem. That “friend” of yours sees all of your posts and you see all of theirs. So one day as you are just shooting the breeze checking out random pictures of babies and puppies, you come across posts that deny that the wage gap for women exists. Every progressive bone in your feminist body wants you to respond. But what if you don’t say the right thing? To provide some good solid back-up, here is a list of what the “haters” have been saying and how you can respond:

• What the haters say: The wage gap doesn’t exist. The 77 cents number is wrong.

• How you can respond: It is a fact that fact that the typical woman’s earnings—when she works full time, year round—are just 77 percent of her male counterpart’s earnings (i.e., the 23-cent wage gap). This number comes from calculations based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey data. This wage gap results from several factors including systemic discrimination, caregiving responsibilities, occupational segregation, and workplace discrimination. Court cases continue to demonstrate that wage discrimination persists. The wage gap persists in nearly every occupation and research shows that even controlling for factors such as education, hours on spent the job, and time taken off work for caregiving responsibilities, a significant portion of the wage gap is unexplained. It is critical to address the factors that contribute to the wage gap and women’s overall economic insecurity.

The International Volleyball Federation adopted new rules which allow female competitors in Olympic volleyball to wear shorts and sleeved tops. But that doesn't mean the bikinis are out for good, just an option. What it does mean is that the new more flexible rules will open opportunities for competition to individuals and countries with cultural or personal beliefs in modest clothing.

And for the men? Same old same old. They never had to wear bikinis in the first place.