Women are not only far less likely to whack you over the head for your watch, or juggle the account books in your office, they are also harder-working and more responsible. In interviews with scores of factory managers, corporate presidents, restaurant managers and industrial bosses in places as far afield as Tokyo and Tashkent, Northern Ireland and South Africa, Sydney and Shanghai, I have been told repeatedly that women report on time, stay later and are more quality-conscious than men. 

Unfortunately for Hollander, his reputation precedes him. A self-proclaimed “serial anti-feminist” who has advocated against the Violence Against Women Act, sued Columbia over having a women’s studies program (without a men’s studies program) and a New York City nightclub for having a “Ladies’ Night,” which he says is discriminatory toward men. His aim in this case isn’t for equal opportunity for women and men, it’s for Hollander alone to feel Schadenfreude.

A handful of East Asian countries seem to think so. Women in Taiwan get three paid days off per year for menstrual leave. Indonesian women are given two days per month. In South Korea, they are awarded back pay if they do not take their allotted days. The Philippines order “mandatory menstruation leave” to female private and government employees, and provide half pay for those who are menopausal and pregnant. And last year in Russia, a lawmaker attempted to pass two days off monthly for women during their menstruation cycle, claiming women’s memories and efficiency at work are deterred.