When the man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals won the highest office in the land, leading by 53% among white women in particular, it was abundantly clear that womens’ issues needed a front row seat in politics and pop culture over the next four years. The January Women’s March put forth the first steps in a resistance movement that may well galvanize the electorate and provide the mainstream-Left determination that severely lacked in the lead up to the Trump presidency. Later, the “Day Without a Woman” and Equal Pay Day provided additional soapboxes for women trying to be heard. However, just as “uppity” women have done for generations, they’ve drawn commentary, condemnation, and even capitalist efforts from all sides. Because, you know, the last thing society seems able to do (besides stop spewing carbon) is find its peace with women.
When the man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals won the highest office in the land, leading by 53% among white women in particular, it was abundantly clear that women’s issues needed a front row seat in politics and pop culture over the next four years. The January Women’s March put forth the first steps in a resistance movement that may well galvanize the electorate and provide the mainstream-Left determination that severely lacked in the lead up to the Trump presidency. Later, the “Day Without a Woman” and Equal Pay Day provided additional soapboxes for women trying to be heard. However, just as “uppity” women have done for generations, they’ve drawn commentary, condemnation, and even capitalist efforts from all sides. Because, you know, the last thing society seems able to do (besides stop spewing carbon) is find its peace with women.
Last Tuesday was Equal Pay Day in the United States, marking the (symbolic) day when women have put in enough additional hours to finally equal mens’ wages from the year before. It’s supposed to draw attention to the pay gap between equally qualified men and women who work at equivalent jobs. Women have made strides in the workplace, now making on average 82 cents for every dollar a similarly employed man earns, especially compared to the 54 cents they made for every male-earned dollar when the Equal Pay Act passed in 1963. (African-American and Hispanic women make even less.)
In his effort to Make America Great Again, Trump recently rolled back an Obama-era protection called the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order. The original order was put in place by President Obama in response to an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which revealed that companies who received many millions of dollars in government contracts were also some of the worst violators of laws designed to reduce injuries and prevent cheating workers out of their wages. Many of these companies also broke other laws, such as hiring undocumented workers, fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid, and charging for work they had not actually performed. Apparently requiring taxpayer-supported companies to adhere to the laws passed by our elected representatives in our own interest was too much to ask of the new administration. Repealing Obama’s executive order just before Equal Pay Day was icing on the cake.
As they have every year since 1997, the House Democrats re-introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act on Equal Pay Day in order to address wage disparities. This bill, backed by 197 Democrats and one brave, lonely Republican (Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey), is unlikely to make it to the floor with Paul Ryan in charge of the agenda. It’s particularly poignant when everyday conservatives criticize Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren for not paying the women they employ a wage equal to that of male colleagues. If that’s a fact-based assertion, it shows all the more why we need the sort of legislative movement symbolized by Equal Pay Day, and perhaps they should encourage their representatives in government, like Mr. Ryan, to take on this Democratic initiative. Think of it as calling the Dems’ bluff; that is, unless they’re too afraid themselves that equal pay would become the (enforced) law.
Meanwhile, companies that may or may not favor “anti-business” equal wage laws seem perfectly willing to hit women up for money. Capitalizing on the feminist fire for equal wages and rights by selling women $700 slogan-embossed t-shirts better include hefty donations for causes that actually promote equality. Playing on female insecurity with emotional ad campaigns for body care products that emphasize a narrow definition of beauty also undermines key feminist messages. Capitalism turns every human impulse into a profit center, a situation counter to true empowerment.
Critics of everything that Equal Pay Day represents mention, rightfully so, that the pay gap exists for good reason. Women, they say, are likelier to take time off to care for family needs, including childbirth or caring for aging parents. They also claim that men are likelier to “lean in” when they have a family, working harder because the children depend on them. These behaviors are rewarded by the Market with lower or higher wages, respectively, with the implication that women shouldn’t seek equal wages when their very nature makes them less valuable to employers. In my opinion, it drives home how damaged we’ve become as a society when the side that screams the loudest about “family values” takes that opportunity to value women less because they answer the call to care. It’s time to take a look at real families, especially the ones that will increasingly be led by single moms as reproductive rights go the way of safe workplaces and fair pay. Equal Pay is also about making families great again.
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