Emily Jones Paper 1
Emily Jones Paper 1
Emily Jones Paper 1
Professor Steele
English 1201
18 April 2021
Women have been paid less for doing the same job as men for years even with having
more experience and a better education. Women from around the world, different backgrounds
and stories are coming together to show the government that we should get paid the exact same
amount as a man who does the same job. The fight for equality needs big legal help to make the
biggest impact and to finally help these women and their families and their communities. There
are so many examples of clear discrimination towards women in workplaces and now let’s see
what they are doing to stop this from happening to the next generation of women.
Gender inequality is discrimination on the basis of sex or gender causing one sex or
gender to be routinely privileged or prioritized over another. This has happened to women since
the beginning, putting them into a role of taking care of kids and making dinner. Still today
people say women belong in the kitchen and that men are better. To make a difference and be
seen as equals will help solve the gender inequality pay. In 1963 John F Kennedy signed into the
law The Equal Pay Act of 1963. This law was to make sure it was illegal to pay men more than
women for the same work. It was to protect men and women. This sadly did not ensure complete
equality for women in workplaces. Companies found too many loopholes and weaknesses in the
Act and would get away with paying women less for the same job. In 1960, the pay gap between
women and men was 61 cents to a male’s dollar. It fluctuated for years and was able to get it to
82 cents to a male’s dollar in 2021. If we continue at this rate, women will not reach equality
until 2059, we need everyone’s help to reach equality. Claudia Goldin said in the article written
by Clark Merrefield, “The solution does not have to involve government intervention and it need
not make men more responsible in the home (although that wouldn’t hurt). But it must involve
changes in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured and remunerated to enhance
temporal flexibility. The gender gap in pay would be considerably reduced and might vanish
altogether if firms did not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individuals who
labored long hours and worked particular hours.”. To stop the pay gap we need official
policies, legal protections, and changes in business practices, such as regular pay assessments of
earnings by gender and pay transparency, are necessary to combat these sources of the gender
gap in pay. To make this happen we need to elect officials to fight and make a change for the
The pay gap hurts both men and women. Although it is men who deny women the jobs,
and men who make women afraid to apply, it affects them negatively as well. Men have the
longest hours in the industrialized world because they have to make-up for the low paying jobs
that women or their significant others have. If they were paid equally for the labor, more men
could be with their families more. A child needs time with both parents in order to fully develop
emotionally, and spending time only with their mother or neither parent if both are working long
hours just to pay the bills, can be harmful to their development. State and federal social programs
are also affected because the tax revenues are lower than they should be, which is yet another
example of how harmful the pay gap is to more than just women. Another example of something
being negatively affected by the pay gap would be the community. If pay was equal it would
boost the community, and the community would thrive. In addition, most of those tax revenues
fund vital community services. These community services include emergency services, law
enforcement, water and sewer services, community centers, transportation such as busing, parks,
and public schools. Think of how much this would help communities and these families. These
are not just silly services that can afford to be cut, they are important. It is so vital to make a
better environment for everyone and their families, and it is not a big, difficult change that needs
to be made. It is something as little as decreasing a pay gap that should not have even been in
existence in the first place. That small change could help so many people, communities, and even
federal services.
In the article by Bryce Covert he discussed a case that affected Aileen Rizo, a math
consultant in the education system, in California. She had found that her male colleagues who
were hired at the same time as her were making significantly more than her. Even though she had
more education and experience than these men. When she asked why this was happening, she
found out it was because hiring and recruiters used the question about past salary to see “how
low they will go”. Rizo took this to court and Judge Stephen Reinhardt said “Allowing prior
salary to justify a wage differential perpetuates his message, entrenching in salary systems an
obvious means of discrimination.” (Covert). In the case Rizo v. Yovino on February 27, 2020,
the Ninth Circuit, sitting issued the decision that holding the prior salary cannot be used as a
“factor other than sex” to justify pay differences under the federal Equal Pay Act. Rizo fought so
other women were not discriminated against in the interview process and helped pave for equal
pay. The discrimination in hiring and pay decisions can be both on a conscious and unconscious
level. Women are overlooked by employees because women still have this persona that they are
very important in deciding earnings. For the past 20 years they have made tremendous progress
for women and these differences now play a much smaller role in gender earning differences.
Evidence shows that women around the world make up 57% of part time work. With that, there
is a wage penalty that comes for motherhood and it amounts to 7% wage reduction per child.
With motherhood comes a lot of responsibilities and flexibility. With schools sending home sick
kids, expensive and unreliable childcare women are usually more part time. These women suffer
to solely take care of their children. Women just need more flexibility for returning to work.
Research from the University of Massachusetts found that fathers are more likely to be hired
than childless men and are even usually paid more. So why do men get better advantages with
having children than the mother? We need equality to make this right and to be fair to these
The USA Women’s Soccer Team has been fighting for equal pay for many years now
through a campaign called Equal Play Equal Pay. They have won four Women's World Cup
titles, one being in 1991 which was the first Women's World Cup, again in 1999, 2015 and 2019.
As well as winning four Olympic gold medals, starting with the first Women’s World Cup in
1996, then again in 2004, 2008 and 2012 as well as eight CONCACAF Gold cups. Meanwhile
the men have failed to qualify for the Olympics for three consecutive years now, and have only
appeared in 10 World Cups and have won zero. They have six CONCACAF Gold cups (1991,
2002, 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2017). The team filed gender discrimination against the US Soccer
Federation for being paid less than the men and for equal work. They are fighting to get at least
equal playing, training, travel conditions and equal promotions of games equal to the Men’s
National Team. The women’s team has brought in more revenue than men for US Soccer but are
still being paid less. It would be a different conversation if they were not doing better than the
mens team in all aspects, but they are. The US Men’s National team has even come out to fully
support the women and hope to reach equality. Becky Sauerbrunn, a professional soccer player
who is on the USWNT, once said,¨Women should not go into negotiations thinking that they
should just be happy with what’s given to them. If you feel like you’re owed more, then fight for
it. Don’t be timid or feel like you cannot be aggressive. Men don’t worry about that when they
are negotiating.” The US Soccer association said by 2022 they will discuss if they will raise the
pay or not. (Bieler, Des, and Cindy Boren) These ladies are dedicated and will not stop until they
Just this past March in 2021 for March Madness, viral images of clear discrimantion
surfaced the internet.One of the images showed baggies that were given to each player and the
mens bags had much more than the womens. The “swag bags'' for the men had multiple of
everything: deodorants, soap wash, cologne, lysol wipes, hand sanitizer. Also a 500 piece puzzle,
a hat, book, socks, blanket, stickers. While the womens had one soap, deodorant, sunscreen,
umbrella, socks,hat ,shirt and a scrunchie. With a bag and 2 water bottles and a 150 piece puzzle.
The pictures did not stop there, another picture compared the mens and women's gym equipment
provided also by the NCAA. The women had 6 sets of weight while the men had a whole lifting
bar and 6 sets of weights throughout a whole room. The women also were given limited
containers of their food and men had catering of huge pans, unlimited for their teams. These
women athletes were hurt that they were belittled by the NCAA and are fighting for people to
treat women equal. They worked just as hard as the men to get to where they were in the
tournament. Them sharing the pictures helped raise awareness to the world and to stop this from
happening to the future women. NCAA president Mark Emmert made a statement saying that it
is up to marketing people to improve this gender disparity. He did admit that they dropped the
ball on this and really want to use this as a changing point, and to make a change.
Kanarys Inc. is a platform that gathers and analyzes cultural and demographic data to
help organizations build more inclusive work cultures. Mandy Price, CEO of Kanarys Inc
said,”It is disconcerting to see that even though the business community is well aware of the
benefits of a diverse workforce – such as innovation, employee retention and increased financial
returns – there is still a lack of progress in closing the gender gap." To create gender equality we
need organizations to make changes. It is not in our own hands anymore. It is not something that
can be fixed by one single woman or man standing up and writing a letter. This issue needs the
support of thousands of people who can give a voice to the millions of women/minorities who
were told that they did not have one. It can be as little even as hiring more women, which is a
huge step although it should not have to be. It needs to be that these workplaces encourage and
show women that they can be promoted and hold manager positions. Something as small as
employers promoting women and putting them in positions of power can be a huge help in this
dire crisis that the world is facing, yet ignoring. Statistically, women currently hold only 38
percent in manager positions. There are so many women who are very intelligent, and very
qualified to hold a manager position, but do not hold them due to the sole fact that they are
women. If a man with the same resume as a woman applied to the same job, the man would get
the job because of the stigma around women and men. Men are perceived as more intelligent,
stroger, and more emotionally intelligent than women, and have been for decades, but that is
simply not the truth. It was not the truth in the past, and it is certainly not true in the present. A
woman should not have to fear applying for a job that they worked so hard to qualify for just
because she is a woman. It is completely unfair, and it is really sad to see that humanity has
stooped so low.
The pay gap is 82 cents to a male’s dollar and is even worse for women of different races.
For black women it is 62 cents, Hispanic is 54 cents, Asian is 90 cents and American Indian is 57
cents. Even though gender-based pay discrimination has been illegal since 1963, it is still a
widespread problem and needs as much help as ever. Even though a couple cents seems like
nothing, if you put it into perspective, a full-time year-round woman earned $10,194 less than
her male counterpart.3 Some actions that could shrink the gender wage gap is to invest in
affordable, high-quality, and trustworthy childcare. To make childcare more affordable will help
allow women to work more hours and inhibit long term success in their job. A mother should not
have to pick an unsafe sitter just so she can put food on the table. Women are discriminated
against for the stereotype of their family role, especially maternity leave and etc. Implementing a
national paid family and medical leave insurance program would help these women with
families. Only 12 percent of US workers have access to paid leave through their employers.
Having paid leave would help reduce the gaps in work histories, which women are more likely to
experience. This action could help increase the women’s opportunities. With the bonus pay gap,
women are being shorthanded and receive less in performance bonuses. An Australian study by
Mercer found that men were receiving up to 35 cents more in performance bonuses than women,
even with receiving the same performance rating. Another instance is 70 percent of janitors are
male 88 percent of maids are women. Men make 21 percent higher than the median weekly wage
Statistically, women are more educated than men and have better degrees, but still are
paid less. It is so crazy to think that women go to school longer than men, women get better
grades than men, and women work so much harder to meet the criteria then men, yet women are
shot down for jobs that they could be so progressive in. Statistics also show that women are
promoted far less often than men. We can figure this out because women make up less than 5
percent of CEOs and less than 10 percent of women are top earners in S&P 500. 54 percent of
women have faced sexual harassment just in the workplace. This puts a huge fear on some
women to show up to work, or debate if they should quit or not. It also puts a huge fear to ask for
promotions or to be paid what they are worth. I know that getting completely rid of this would be
extremely difficult but if companies and corporations can make it clear that they will not be
punished for speaking up or talking to someone about promotions, scheduling, and etc. It could
make many women feel comfortable in their work space and could ultimately make everything
run smoother.
There have been many studies that have concluded that women do not like to take risks
and would rather stay in the box because they are scared that it might hurt their job or even affect
their everyday life. With that in mind, the conclusion that women would rather play it safe and
continuously be discriminated against then stand up for their rights given to them by the
constitution than risk a man once again putting them down and telling them that their opinion is
not valid, can be drawn. The Hewlett Packard report was testing to see what men and women
look for when they are searching for jobs. They found that their data showed that men apply for
jobs when they meet about 60% of qualifications needed and women apply only if they meet
100% qualifications. This is such a horrifying fact because women are so afraid to put
themselves out there, for fear of failure. This not only becomes a disadvantage for their career,
but it becomes a huge disadvantage to the organizations that could miss out on the hidden
potential of the female employees who could be so amazing at the job in question . This fear
comes from the stereotype that falsely states that women need to stay at home and take care of
the kids, the chores, and anything that has to do with homelife. If society can come together and
get rid of that burden that weighs women down, more women would feel free to branch out and
feel like they are good enough to apply for the same jobs that men who are barely qualified for
do not even think twice about submitting an application for. On the other hand, pertaining to the
there is what is called “B phobia.” B phobia is when girls are more likely than boys to drop
subjects when they earn a B. This is due to the fact that if a woman is not perfect at what she is
doing, she automatically feels like she is not enough. It seems easier to give up on something you
worked so hard for, then to get below perfect. This “B phobia” can definitely transfer to the work
field and out into adult life in general. What women and men need to understand is that some of
There are many groups that are trying to pave a new path for women to be compensated
equal to their male counterparts. One group who is advocating for the pay gap to come to a
complete end is Equal Pay Today. This group formed due to seeing the unfair treatment of
women in the workplace and they wanted to challenge the legal policy as well as any cultural
barriers at all levels in which prevent women from achieving equal pay. Equal Pay Today hosts
campaigns that fight not onlyfor the pay gap and things that relate to the monetary part of
discrimination, but campaign for anything that could ultimately affect female earnings. One
example of another type of campaign would be job segregation where women are kept in roles
that are “traditional female roles.” Equal Pay Today also fights for diminishing pay reductions
for caregiving responsibilities, or even for things such as pregnancy because those are things that
are usually expected of women, and things that women should not get paid for because men do
facing for so long, who are fighting so hard for them. On October 17, 2020 thousands of people
marched throughout Washington DC and in cities nationwide to protest for equality for gender,
racial, and LGBTQ+ throughout our Nation’s capital as well as other big cities worldwide. It is
such an amazing thing to see these athletes, celebrities, artists, and maybe even your neighbor
rally up to speak up for what they believe is right, especially after being told that they were not
allowed to have an opinion for so long. These idols speaking out and saying that you are worth
more than what society has labeled you for so many years is so inspiring to young minds. It is
especially influential to younger girls who already feel the pressure to fit into society and see it
all of the time without even knowing that they were being discriminated against. Diminishing the
pay gaps, as well as any other forms of discrimination is the only solution to this problem that
seems to never end. Standing up and demanding change could be a chance to finally unite
women and men, as well as create a different, and much healthier lifestyle for our children.The
only way that change is possible is for us as people to decide that enough is enough. It is all up to
With all that being said, women deserve to be paid equal to men for doing their job the
same as a man does. Women should especially have an equal shot at being promoted and given
fair chances with an enforced criterion for being promoted or to determine salary to ensure no
discrimination of any kind is a factor in the decisions being made. One day, hopefully soon, the
concept of paying women equally will be the widely accepted norm and not just a pipedream.
Until then we need all the help we can get to make this change.
Work cited
2 https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/an-economist-explains-why-
women-get-paid-less/
Gould, Report • By Elise. “What Is the Gender Pay Gap and Is It Real? The
Complete Guide to How Women Are Paid Less than Men and Why It Can't Be
Explained Away.” Economic Policy Institute, 26 Oct. 2016,
www.epi.org/publication/what-is-the-gender-pay-gap-and-is-it-real/.
Bleiweis, Robin. “Quick Facts About the Gender Wage Gap.” Center for
American Progress,
www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/03/24/482141/quic
k-facts-gender-wage-gap/.
Merrefield, Clark, and About The Author Clark Merrefield Clark Merrefield joined
Journalist’s Resource in 2019 after working as a reporter for Newsweek and The
Daily Beast. “Pay Gap between Men and Women: What the Research Says.” The
Journalist's Resource, 21 Nov. 2020, journalistsresource.org/economics/pay-gap/#:
~:text=Women%20working%20full%2Dtime%20in,cent%2Dper%2Ddollar
%20discrepancy.