The Anger Blog, Women and Workplace Equality

It has been almost 50 years since the Kennedy administration passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963. In this regard, the past fifty years must seem like a long time to most women, but apparently it is not quite long enough for the conservatives in Congress. They still feel that a woman should be thrilled to be making 77 cents for every $1.00 that her male counterpart is paid for doing the same job. Only two Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2007. When it was passed under President Obama in 2009, it still received only a handful of votes from these same representatives.

I guess these events shouldn't come as a surprise to females, since they did not even win the right to vote until 1920. As I recall, a woman could not obtain a home loan in her name in the early 1970s unless her 'better half' co-signed for it (which means she had to be married). If she were single, it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for her to own a home. The lenders did not let the fact that she was earning a salary sway them or keep them from following their rules and regulations.

Will the recent repeal of Wisconsin's Equal Pay Enforcement Act by Governor Walker anger the electorate enough to take up the fight for equal pay for women? Since strides are being made in other areas that, in the past, reeked of gender bias, are we simply becoming complacent about women's right to equal pay in the workplace? We now have three female Supreme Court Justices, as well as more female representatives in Congress and in high government positions than ever before. These advances hopefully haven't blinded us to the realities that women still have lower starting salaries and see fewer promotions than their male counterparts. Those women with college degrees make approximately one million dollars less than males with equivalent degrees over the course of their lifetimes.

Are we going to continue to ignore the shoddy treatment our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and female friends receive when it comes to equal pay for equal work?

Related reading on this subject: Shame and anger with diverse populations.