Last week on April 12th, woman's earnings finally caught up to men who were paid in the previous year. According to CNN , woman were paid 59% of what men were paid in 1964. Fifty years later not  much has changed. Woman are paid on average 79% compared to their male coworkers because of one thing: they didn't have a penis.

Sure there have been SOME improvements since 1964. In 1972, Title IX was passed making discrimination against any person based on their sex in any federally funded educational programs in America illegal. BUT we have to remember that this primarily only worked for woman that were white and who wanted to attend public universities. Private colleges were still allowed to go about their ways in selecting their student population off of  bias views. Eight years later in 1980, woman and men were enrolled in American colleges in equal numbers for the first time. Fast forward to 2012 were American woman have surpassed men in obtaining a college degree by 71% compared to their male counterparts with 61% (Pew Research Center).

This made me scratch my head. If there are more woman who have college degrees in America compared to men why are we as woman being payed less than our male counterparts if we have likely received a higher education than them?  According to a recent study by Pew Research Center, one of the key reasons why woman are being payed less and aren't receiving executive business positions are because of standards. The study noted that 43% of people believed that woman would be unsuitable for political jobs compared to men because of these double standards compared to men while in the business sector 53% believed that men will continue to hold top business roles. Sigh...I guess that's just how it's going to be right?

What makes matters worse is the fact that woman are loosing even more money if we don't fit into how society deems us as woman. Compared to our male counterparts we have to invest not only in more time, but also money to be deemed 'professional' looking. This means that we have to invest in extra beauty products not by choice, but because it is actually apart of our employers dress code policy that we wear makeup and have our hair groomed a certain way. Oh and lets not forget clothes. Thanks to the 'woman's tax' Business Insider , estimated in 1995 that woman spend on average $1,351 a year more for the same products as men. That means that we as woman are loosing money at the start of our interview process even before we have become hired by employers.


 Reading these statistics makes me almost want to chuck my college diplomas out of my window and put on an apron for the rest of my life. Almost.... I have been told that my degrees in French, Communication, and International Journalism are almost useless by men unless I have good looks and a 'nice rack' . I have felt uncomfortable in job interviews when I see that there are no female employees. I have felt discouraged reading statistics that I am deemed lesser than my male counterparts solely based off of my looks even if I have more education and job experience than him.  It shouldn't take 4 months and 12 days for a woman IN 2016  to catch up  to her male coworkers simply because she lacks a penis. It's a simple thing to do: just pay us all the same dammit.



Until next time,