MY OLD uni - the University of Queensland - is holding a bake sale this week.

Like many fundraising bake sales you can buy homemade cupcakes, slices of cake, and pastries for $1 or less.

But unlike most bake sales this one has made the news.

The difference is, this week the university union is holding Feminist Week.

An important part of gender inequality - at least for women in Australia - is the gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap is the difference between women's and men's average weekly full-time equivalent earnings in Australia. As of November last year it sits at 17.3%.

For comparison, in November 1994 the gender pay gap in Australia sat at 16.2% and in November 2004 it narrowed to 14.9%.

Which means, according to reliable data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the difference between men's and women's earnings in Australia is getting worse.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what the bake sale has to do with any of this.

The university union decided a good way to represent this continuing and worsening pay gap was to charge people buying a cupcake from the sale varying prices depending on their gender.

The way it works is this: Each baked good has a base cost of $1.

But if you're a woman, you'll get a discount.

Specific to whichever faculty the buyer is studying in at uni, each baked good will only cost her the proportion out of $1 that she will earn comparative to men.

However, if you identify as a man, all baked goods will cost you $1.

So if you're a man and you have a craving for a delicious cupcake, sorry, but you're paying more for it than the woman next in line.

I know what you're thinking. "Discrimination!"

Dozens of angry posts have appeared on the university's unofficial Facebook messageboard by men who are none too pleased they will be paying more for their morning tea.

I understand that when two people are asked to pay different amounts for the same product it can look unfair.

I also understand that switching the genders and continuing to impose unequal treatment is hardly the ideal way to combat a situation.

But the fact remains that it's a powerful symbol of the continuing pay gap that continues to exist in this country.

It's not nice to face uncomfortable truth but when the pay gap hasn't changed in 20 years - and has actually gotten worse - obviously we need to try something new.

So I'm quite happy for men to be charged more at the bake sale.

It's a few cents more for a cupcake and it's done to make a compelling point.