Imagine your
mom, sister or daughter was working in a workplace with male coworkers and you
found out that she’s getting paid less even though she is doing the same amount
of work as her male coworkers. Wouldn’t that piss you off? Personally, I would
be pretty upset about it. Now imagine if your mom, sister or daughter had the
same pay for the same amount of work as her male coworkers. I don’t know about
you but I would definitely want that for her.
Social
Inequality has been a part of our world for far too long and I think that it's time for change
needs to be made to profit our future generations. One of the biggest issues in society that is continuously growing
is the gender pay gap. Many people are not aware of this issue because it’s not
something that seems like a big deal. Well, it is.
Over the
years, this issue has resulted in women making only 77% of what the average
male makes hourly. A common stereotype that is created by men is that women are less educated and are less qualified
than men, which is evidently not true. According to a 2006 Census, "women accounted for 60% of university graduates between the ages of 25 and 29"[1]. Throughout history, men were in positions of
power, which was the root cause of the social inequality that exists between
men and women. When it came to salary income, men were usually in a subject position and women were usually
in an object position, which
contributed immensely to the gender pay gap, until it was momentarily suppressed
by the Pay Equity Act was passed in 1987.
Patriarchy was very common and still exists to this day
because of social classes. This causes people of a lower status to not get the
attention they need when trying to fight the issue because why would the
government pay attention to those who they don’t consider equal to them? I
believe that the only way to make a change is for people of a higher social
class to reach out to those who are not as privileged as them. John Oliver talked about gender inequality and his vision for change. He enlightened people
with the truth about the inequalities that exist and proved to millions that
there is injustice to the people of lower classes.
There is also
a conspiracy that exists when it comes to gender pay gap; women wouldn’t get
paid less if they never had any children, but even females who don’t have any
children that pursue the same jobs as men are being paid less. Based on a
statistics report, “In 2012, female computer
programmers earned 84% of what male computer programmers earned. Female financial
managers earned an astounding 70% of what male financial managers earned.
Female lawyers earned only 80% of what male lawyers earned” [2]. President
Obama opened up his campaign by saying that he wants to acknowledge the issue of unequal
wages and how he wants there to be “equal pay for equal work”. Although it may
seem that he wants to make a change, he is not proving it through his actions.
Last year, there was a controversy because women in the Whitehouse receive lower salary than men. It’s one thing to give a speech to help stop the gender pay gap, but it’s
another thing to actually do something about it.
Eventually, the unfair
pay between men and women will cause discord between the proletariats and the bourgeoisies.
I believe that it is time to make a change by respecting women with equal pay
and give them the same opportunities as men. Treating women equally also
includes women with different ethnicities, religious beliefs etc. because a
society that cannot accept differences is not one that will last very long. It’s
time to start sharing the issue with others and teach them about the
consequences that gender inequality has on our society. It may take several
years for actual change to start, but it’s important to make a difference for
the benefit of future generations and so that our children, both men and women,
can be paid equally for equal work.
Works Cited
1. Why are the majority of university students women? (n.d.). Retrieved March 08, 2016, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2008001/article/10561-eng.htm
2. The Gender Pay Gap – Myth vs. Fact. (n.d.). Retrieved March 08, 2016, from http://now.org/resource/the-gender-pay-gap-myth-vs-fact/
