“You’ve come a long way, Baby!” But not far enough. Unlike in the past, men and women today are doing the same full-time, year-round jobs. Yet, for the last ten years women have still been paid less than men—77 cents as opposed to a dollar. If you’re a black or Hispanic woman, that number falls to 64 cents and 55 cents respectively.
Gone are the days when a female got a job to find a husband or have a little extra money to play with while a man supported her. So are the days when only women were servers, child-care workers, or teachers—or when only men were lawyers, architects, and construction workers.
The Paycheck Fairness Act (HR1519), currently in the House, would level the workbench in our country by letting workers talk about their salaries if they want to (now they can be fired or penalized for doing so). That means that people can actually know when they’re being discriminated against. Yes, it boils down to strengthening our anti-discrimination laws.
I just sent off an email to my Rep., Mike Honda, in support of this Act, and I hope you’ll send a similar email or letter or phone call to your own Rep.
Who knows? Maybe someday women will have garnered enough respect that strangers will no longer call us “Baby.”