Aretha’s hat…oh yeah, and equal pay!

Posted by Kate G. in Politics World.

This totally isn’t going to be a post about her hat, but I have to ask: how much did you LOVE it? I’m its fan on Facebook.

Moving on…Obama is already proving himself a strong proponent for women; last Thursday, he signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, that relaxes the current statute of limitations on suing on grounds of pay discrimination. The Act itself is named for Lilly Ledbetter, who worked at a Goodyear Tire plant in Alabama for 19 years and then sued as she approached retirement and  realized she was making less than her male co-workers.

Know what the former statute of limitations was? 180 days from the first date you’re paid less. Not the first date you realize it; the first date they do it.

Let’s discuss the absolute lack of rationale regarding this statute. They really expect that six months (or less!) into your new job, when you’re just getting used to your co-workers and boss, you’re supposed to snoop and look at your peers’ paychecks or discuss pay rates with your boss? I mean, how often does anyone swap pay stubs and check out what their colleagues are making? It’s just not polite or ethical. Plus, in the 21st century, you’d think we could just be secure in the fact that 80 years after getting the vote, women and men are paid the same. Same work, same salary, right?

Wrong. It’s still 70 cents to the dollar, and boys’ clubs like these factories–as well as other businesses of all shapes and sizes all over America–pretty much bank on no woman being able to sue them, thanks to that riduculous former statute.

This was just another attempt by the rich and powerful try to wash their hands of accountability and involvement by putting the responsibility on the employee. Where’s the integrity in that?

I don’t know about you, but I find it baffling and beyond insulting that society still expects women to not only do her job but also pretty much everything at home in a mother/father household…and get paid LESS. There is no logic to explain how ass-backwards the current patriarchal system is.

But the average woman doesn’t really seem too concerned with all of this. It’s just like what happened after we got the vote in the 20s; the next generation of women sort-of sat back and enjoyed their new rights without trying to push onward. And you know what that bred? The ’50s. I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of getting anyone’s slippers for them but my OWN after a full day vacuuming in heels.

Plus, there’s too much that needs fighting for, in addition to fair pay. How about…general gender equality, as recognized by the Constitution? Yeah, still not in there. The Equal Rights Amendment, 80 years later, still hasn’t gotten ratification from 38 of 50 states it needs; currently, the amendment is at a standstill with 35. It has gone before Congress every single session since 1982 but always gets rejected for ridiculous reasons, such as pregnant women being drafted or –gasp!– unisex bathrooms. Check out the site and see if your state has ratified yet. We need you!

So…no more laurel-resting. Call your congressional reps and senators. Write letters, talk to each other. Tell a friend about the ERA Get to it, bitches.

Politics, World |