An unemployed gender studies major from Eugene, Ore. sued “The Patriarchy” today in federal court for refusing to give her a job.
In a 25-page brief, attorneys for Sarah Miller-Jones, 24, argue that gender discrimination from the patriarchy has prevented their client from finding gainful employment since she graduated from university three years ago.
The suit seeks $2 million in compensation and $139 million in punitive damages, which together equal $1 from every adult man in America.
“Despite the fact that Ms. Miller-Jones graduated with a 2.8 GPA from the prestigious University of Oregon, she has been unable to find a job fitting her qualifications,” the document reads.
“Ms. Miller-Jones has been on unemployment benefits for 18 months. And despite extensive coursework in Zambian feminist hip-hop she has only received six job offers -- all of which were for entry-level call center and health care positions.
“It is outrageous that the patriarchy refuses to offer our client a decent career. She has applied for over 20 positions in the recording, publishing and television industries and has been rejected every single time.
“We all know that terms like ‘no experience’ and ‘lack of relevant education’ are codewords the patriarchy uses to keep keep women in their place. But Ms. Miller-Jones refuses to be a housewife or a nurse. She deserves a real job.”
Millions of young Americans who recently graduated from university are finding themselves working in jobs below their educational level.
Media reports have tended to blame the slow recovery from the Great Recession for the trend. However, an equally important factor is the fact that the American university system turns out too few graduates with employable skills.
There are an estimated 3 million open jobs in the United States that go unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates. Many of these jobs are in science and engineering, while the most popular majors for U.S. college graduates are in psychology and the liberal arts.
According to a former employer, Miller-Jones’ gender studies degree actually hurt her employability. Gilbert Grass manages a call center for a local credit union in Eugene and says he regrets hiring her straight out of college.
“She refused to use the words ‘he’ or ‘she’ when talking to customers,” he says. "That lead to a lot of confusion. And she once gave a customer who called to check her bank balance a 20-minute lecture on how the film Toy Story perpetuated gender-specific archetypes of heroism.
“After she skipped work for three days to picket a stay-at-home mom’s house, we had to fire her. I hired another woman with a high school diploma and she did just fine. Now she’s one of our best managers.”
