Equal Pay Day: Promoting the Rights of ALL Workers

Congratulations women, as of today you have earned as much money as your male counterparts did in the year 2010: it only took you 16 months!  Equal Pay Day takes place on April 12^th each year as a way to symbolize the amount of time women must work into the following year to earn the same amount that men earned last year alone. 

The issue of fair pay feels like something we should read about in history books. How can women continue to make 77 cents for every dollar that men make? 

And yet, in celebration of today, the blogosphere is filled with writers arguing that the gender wage gap is a lie. Some argue that it is the women’s choice to engage in jobs that notoriously pay less, that the measurements are skewed, or that women are actually making more than men in this economic recession. I even happened upon this little gem about why there should be an Equal Pay Day for young, single men (incidentally written by a woman).

But these are all arguments to skirt the issue, to blame women for their position, or to diminish the need for action.  These are the facts: at this point, there is not equal pay for equal work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010, women were earning on average 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts were earning.  The National Women’s Law Center calculates this gap to translate into $10,622 less per year in female median earnings.  Because of the economic recession, women have become a larger segment of the workforce, and more and more families rely solely on women’s incomes for survival. The wage gap is damaging as it also further intensifies the feminization of poverty, a term that illustrates the rise in the number of women and female-headed households that live below the poverty line (the poverty rate for female-headed household being almost three times that of male-headed households).

On this day focused on gender inequality, it is important that we also examine how race factors into equal pay, and that we ask the question: which men do we as women want to be equal with?  In 2006, the National Committee on Pay Equity found that while the median annual earnings for white women were 73% of what white men made, black men made 72% and Latino men earned only 57% of what white men were earning.  For women of color, the numbers were even worse: the median annual earnings for black women were 63% and for Latina women only 51% of white men’s salaries for comparable work. 

There is also a direct correlation between age and the gender pay gap; the older the worker, the wider the wage gap between men and women.  While women under 25 on average make 85% of what men their age make, women over 50 earn just 73% of what older men earn in wages. 

Our culture must also revalue the types of work typically occupied by women (which also tend to be the most underpaid), such as teaching, nursing, and child care. The promotion of these fields would help to ensure that women receive the compensation they deserve and would begin to close the wage gap.

We need to reach a point where all work is valued and workers are paid fair wages no matter one’s gender, race, age, or any other arbitrary factor.  Let’s make the future one where we will be able to celebrate Equal Pay Day on the day that it should be: December 31^st.

237 Millionaires in Congress Alone

The unemployment rates of the nation’s capital is up to 10.2 percent. Despite such steep levels of unemployment, some lawmakers are doing quite well. 44 percent of Congress members are millionaires. Huge discrepancy? I think so.

According to CommonDreams.org, 237 member of Congress qualify as millionaires, with at least 7 that have net worth of over 100 million dollars. What is funding these millionaires? Certainly, not their salaries alone. Even if their government salaries are over the hundred-thousand mark, “many of them have riches well beyond that salary, supplemented with securities, stock holdings, property and other investments.”

Even with the economy in a slum, some lawmakers continue to turn a profit... But it is not fair to say that all members are in the green. Some are struggling financially with net worth below zero.

Decide for yourself, you do the math! 10.2 percent unemployment rate in the DC area vs 237 millionaires running the country. I personally think the scales could use some tipping in the other direction.

Photo Credit: Amagill on flickr.com

Were Ad-Wizards Behind New Half-Calorie Lays Half-Baked?

With their newer brand of Baked! products, Lays, Flat Earth and Smartfood brands are trying to shift their consumer's image from the generic "unkempt and unfit girl who sits alone on Friday night, demolishing through a bag of junk food (while obviously listening to Celine Dion)” to a more health-conscious, socially acceptable woman.

The ads and webisodes aim to be like an animated Sex in the City, staring four aging, hip, stylish best friends attempting to survive trials of life, love and self-improvement.

You know… if Sex and the City didn’t include witty quips or career-driven characters and was written by Paris Hilton.

The episodes tackle hard-hitting questions like “OMG! Why is my Italian hair stylist abandoning me to return home?” “How will my man enjoy our vacation together if I’m not tan enough or properly groomed?” “Did my husband accidentally put my perfect jeans in the dryer- he must have because they don’t fit me anymore!” “Who wouldn’t want a 48 hour bug if you get to lose a whole four pounds?” and “What’s the best way to completely rearrange my life so that I’ll be thin enough to be loved?!”

Here’s just the introduction to Baked!’s series “Only in a woman’s world” (ugh, don't even get me started on the title):




Here's a more recent webisode:

And here's one more, just for kicks. This one shows the battle between mom's sound advice and that of the "disillusioned feminist":

With the consistent line “Crave more?” I can’t help, but scream “YES, SUBSTANCE!” Don't get me wrong, here at FMF,we promote healthy lifestyles, but not when weight is lost in brain matter. These commercials promote disgusting caricatures of "the modern woman" that only hurt us (and don't have a thing to do with snack food.)

To let Frito Lay company know that women aren't as shallow as the Red Sea post-Moses, you can use big-girl words to email them here.

As a wrap up, FMF President Eleanor Smeal, always tells us to follow the money to find a company's motivation. Isn't it odd that the cartoon's official website is affiliated with style and beauty website Glam.com? Wonder why?

Last Day of the Women, Money and Power Summit.

Last week after the Senate Finance Committee voted down two separate proposals for a public option (see NY times article here) and approved $50 million a year federal funding to Abstinence-only programs, (reported the AP in an article posted in the Huffington Post), I was rather depressed. (Thanks Senate, it feels like you just punched me in the ovaries TWICE.)

Yesterday however, was the last day of the Feminist Majority's Women, Money and Power Summit, and with such a gathering of strong-minded women who are pro-health insurance reform (including a public option), I can definitely see that the first failure in the senate was just a stepping stone, not a wall.

Feminists such as Senator Boxer, Congresswoman Maloney, and Ellie Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority spoke at a briefing, and we then went outside to the press conference with Speaker Pelosi and several other speakers who rocked my socks off. "We will get health insurance passed this year," was the common phrase, and I certainly believe it.

A few people held up signs that were against health care reform, which reminded all present that though we can get real health care reform, it still will be a fight.

Photo Credit: ragesoss at Flickr.com

In traveling teams, girls finish first

It seems like whenever we talk about sports the discussion is always about how there is less attendence at women's events, less revenue, and they are taken less seriously, which is why I was surprised to read a New York Times article about how traveling girls sports teams have greater attendence.

The article talks about how girls teams stimulate tourism because families are more likely to travel to watch their daughters play. That's awesome right? Of course it is.

What's really interesting is that these families are more likely to travel to watch daughters because they are more protective of them. One women is quoted as saying that she would let her son go off for days unaccompanied, but she would never let her daughter do it.

Why is that? Are parents more worried about daughters because they think their daughters are more likely to get in trouble? Or is it because of a heightened awareness of violence/crime against young women and girls? I don't really have any sort of personal insight into this because I am one of four girls, but it would be interesting to hear what any of you have to say about it.

Photo courtesy of www.flickr/awesomealpharetta

Humanitarian Funding FAIL

According to commondreams.org, on Tuesday, the UN reported a large gap in their humanitarian funding. A $4.8 billion gap, which is less than half of what it had asked for. The areas most impacted by this shortfall include Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and Pakistan.

This gap in funding comes from an increased need for help in Pakistan and economic problems in many countries. While there seems to be less money available, there is an increasing need for relief to help people find clean water, food, shelter, and the other basic needs for survival.

Women desperately need aid because of their role in the family and their direct connection to their environment. Women are often the people who go to get water for their families, and so they are often the first hit by water-bourne infections and diseases. There's also a great need for improved maternal and women's healthcare in the world.

In order to help these women, and their families, there needs to be an increased focus on the important issues in their lives and a corresponding change in policy and funding. These are the lives of millions of real people.

Photo courtesy of www.flickr/lukeredmond