Women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. It's better than the 59 cents women made per dollar earned by a man during the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment back in the 70s, but even that doesn't tell the whole story.
That 77 cents on the dollar doesn't reflect the true inequity women continually face.
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Women have opportunities now that they never had, but the doors still haven't swung open. Even a casual glance will show you how unequal things still are.
Affirmative Action laws have prevented women from being excluded from college majors (because they're "taking a seat away from a man"), but all too often we can't get help from sexist professors or TAs in male-dominated areas of study so they falter, become discouraged and leave, or fail. All too often, as sexual harassment stories abound, we're still seen only as sexual objects rather than students trying to prepare for a career or profession.
We're also ensured a better chance, though still incredibly unequal, of getting hired based on our education, skills, and abilities. Much of the time, though, we're going to have to be far more more skilled and prepared for that job than any of the male applicants. And, unlike male applicants, she'll be asked about her family responsibilities or if and when she plans on having children.
Ditto getting a promotion. The same obstacles exist there. Look at most jobs and you'll find male supervisors and managers with a predominantly female work force.
There was an old joke, still painfully true for too many women.
A woman has to be twice as good as a man to be considered half as good.
Fortunately, that's not difficult.
And women are still being herded into the still female-dominated service sector (teaching, nursing, etc.) where we remain the vast majority of workers (with, of course, male supervisors and principals in abundance). Somehow, it seems only men are worthy of promotion to supervisory or executive roles in many work places.
The already low paycheck shrinks some more because it's often "mom" who has to stay home with sick kids, take time off if child care is unavailable, or take kids or aging parents (or the spouses aging parents) to doctors appointments. That time off also affects how her boss sees her as an employee and her worthiness for promotional opportunities.
That 77 cents just keeps on hurting women. After all, we don't pay less for rent, groceries, utilities, gas, or anything else just because we're women. We pay full price out of a still smaller paycheck than we should be getting.
In fact, we may end up paying more for things where the price is negotiable, like a new vehicle, just because we're women and seen as an easy target for a sweet and easy profit. Or be asked by the salesperson to go home and "check with the hubby first" when making a major purchase (oh, how much I hate that!).
That 77 cents keeps rebounding by affecting pensions (if there are still any around), the ability to save for retirement, and future Social Security checks after retirement. Women are always poorer not just before, but after retirement, as well.
It would be bad enough if it was just women this was happening to, but it isn't. It's the same story for people of color, too. Women of color get the double whammy.
This is called the land of the free and home of the brave. It needs to change to become the land of full equality for all. We've got a lot of work to do.
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