The gender pay gap meets self-identification - who wins?

I’ve been thinking about the gender pay gap issue in light of recent cultural news. The basic complaint is that women are paid less than men. There are arguments over whether there is any gap once you account for differences in occupation choice, education, danger of the job, hours worked, and time off for family. Entirely apart from that discussion, though, I am puzzled how folks concerned with a gender pay gap will deal with the current requirement that gender be self-determined.

For any discussion about gaps in pay between men and women, we must first agree on who counts as a man and who counts as a woman. But we are told that each person gets to choose a gender, and it can change over time. Disagreement brands you as a trans-phobic bigot, and Bruce Springsteen won't play at your party. If we do anything to make sure that women are paid more, then what do we do with low paid men who come to us claiming to be women? Checking a box for “female” will be a pretty easy way to bump your pay. If they then get paid more, which side of the gap do they count toward? What if Bill Gates decided to follow Bruce Jenner, at least in words - would we switch his billions from the man side of the ledger to the woman side? How do you talk about a pay gap based on objective genders when gender has no objective meaning?

Getting men to take responsibility for their children

I recently ran across a pro-abortion note that said that, since the woman is forced to carry the baby, the man should be forced to pay for it. I agree – any man who thinks he’s ready to produce a child should promise to provide for that child. But some people will make promises and then break them, so the woman should really take some time to get to know the man’s character, so she can be sure he will fill his responsibility, before engaging in baby-producing behavior with him. Sometimes people try to deny their promises, so we should have him make his promise to provide for the mom and baby in front of family, friends, even a pastor or judge. And the government should recognize the importance of this long-term commitment. Maybe we can call it marriage.