79 Cents Does Not Equal 1 Dollar

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Equal pay is a hotly debated topic that stands at the center of women’s continuing struggle for gender equality.  Can you guess how much a woman in the work force earns for every dollar a male worker makes in the exact same position?  The answer to that question is 79 cents.  To put that figure in terms of hours worked in an average workweek, which as of September 2014 was 46.7 hours a week, a woman would have to work approximately 2.5 more hours each day to earn the same salary as a male counterpart.  When a woman belongs to a racial minority, the difference in pay is even more profound.

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Opponents of equal pay initiatives argue that disparate compensation between men and women is justified because women generally have caretaking obligations that require them to work fewer hours and therefor they should get paid less.  Yet, the validity of this claim is undermined by its own reliance on the reasonableness of the traditional stereotypes of women being the primary caretakers while men are the workers and primary source of income.  In today’s society, however, women are the primary source of income in over 40% of American households.

The discrepancy in pay between genders is not only seen in the civilian workforce, but in the sports and entertainment industries, as well.  A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union provides evidence of sexism throughout Hollywood.  According to the report, while “the number of women studying at the leading film schools in the US [is] roughly on par with men... In 2014, only 7% of the directors of the 250 top-grossing Hollywood-produced films were women."  Discriminatory practices can also be seen in the compensation of actors and actresses.  After a recent hack at Sony Corporation resulted in the release of tons of emails to the public, it became clear just how unequal the pay could be between costars in the same movie, depending upon their sex.  After hearing how substantially less Jennifer Lawrence’s pay was than her male costars in “American Hustle,” Charlize Theron decided to ensure that the same did not happen for her in her next movie.  Before agreeing to perform the role, she negotiated a deal that will pay her the same amount as her costar, Chris Hemsworth.

In professional athletics, the pay gap between male and female athletes is even more pronounced.  In the summer of 2015, the U.S. Women’s National Team won the Women’s World Cup.  For doing so, the team won $2,000,000.  While to the average person, this may seem like a lot of money, it is nothing compared to the money earned by teams who participate in the Men’s World Cup.  For winning the 2014 Men’s World Cup, the German national team took home a cool $35,000,000.  The U.S. National Team, who finished in 11^th place, won $9,000,000.  In fact, every team that failed to move past the group stage won $8,000,000.  In the sports world, this disparity may be attributed to the larger amount of airtime men’s sports receives and, subsequently, the more advertising revenues generated.  However, it stands as a further reflection of the cultural bias surrounding men’s sports and male workers in general.

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Recently, the issue of equal pay between genders has been a topic of great discussion amongst the presidential candidates, with almost every candidate arguing in favor of equal pay.  Not only do they support equalizing compensation because it is the correct thing to do, but also because polling results show that voters from both parties are in overwhelmingly favor of equal pay.  In fact, 94% of the Democrats polled, 65% of the Republicans polled, and 80% of the Independents polled were all in favor of equal pay.  Although equal pay has been an issue in American for decades, the increased airtime it is receiving in the Presidential debates is providing the initiative with renewed momentum.  Given how liberal our country is relative to other countries, it is time for our policymakers to implement real changes and truly enforce the equal pay laws.

Discussion Questions:

1. Are there other groups that deserve the same rights as women do when it comes to equal pay?
2. What are your thoughts on the payout differences between the two World Cups?  Is advertising a sufficient reason to explain the huge imbalance?
3. Why do you think there are such few top tier female directors in Hollywood?