Nathan's Famous 4th of July hot dog eating contest will now include a women-only competition. Nathan's Famous COO and president Wayne Norbitz says the new round was created to "give female competitors the notoriety they deserve." One problem: the grand prize winner of the women's division can only expect to win 1/4 of what the male champion will take home: $5,000 for the winning lady, $20,000 for the winning man.

Though it's true that the female winner's hotdog consumption is not likely to equal that of the male winner, note that the grand prize disparity is not even reflective of the ratio of hotdogs eaten. The woman slated to be this year's champion, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, has "a personal record of 41 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes," NBC New York reports. 2009 champion Joey Chestnut "won the competition by stuffing 68 hot dogs and buns in his mouth in ten minutes." If the grand prize amounts were determined based on the difference in hot dogs eaten, the female champ should get about 60 percent of the male's winnings, not 25--that's $12,000.
 

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Caitlin Dickson