Ryan ChartrandFor those of you who read this headline thinking I was coming out as bi-sexual you are wrong; I only date men so far, but I also have a true devotion toward my own gender. In today’s gender war, women need to stick together to try to exceed societal limitations on a global level and here in the United States.
Equal pay was set into law in 1963 in the United States, however, this law has not yet been strongly enforced. Women are still paid less than men 45 years later, even with similar education, skills and experience.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007 women made 77 cents for every dollar men were paid. Why is gender inequality still a major issue in our country, a country based on grand constitutional rights of equality and freedom? Why is it that African American women earn only 68 cents for every male-earned dollar, while Latinas earn even less at 57 cents?
These questions will go unanswered until there is reform in public policy by leaders we choose to elect.
For example, the predominantly male U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May 2007 that women must file within 180 days when denied equal pay and discriminated against. By putting a statute of limitation on this, it restricts the right women have to voice violations of pay.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, said the majority opinion “overlooks common characteristics of pay discrimination.” Without representation, anyone’s individual rights will go unanswered.
On a global level, it is easy to say women are hit the hardest economically.
According to the U.N. Development Fund for Women, women work mostly in low-skill, low-wage jobs with longer hours, and are paid less than men in nearly every country in the world.
Looking at the numbers, women make up 70 percent of the world’s population living in poverty, while 45 percent of women are in the world’s workforce. Unlike men, women are more likely to face additional threats on the job such as physical abuse, sexual harassment, or mandatory pregnancy exams, and let’s not leave out discrimination.
Writer, activist and feminist Gloria Steinem put it best when she said, “There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a vagina, and all other occupations should be open to everyone.”
Steinem could not be more right in saying this.
This is why I am making the call to tackle public policy head-on: writing local, state and national representatives and voting for candidates who will do their best to represent our constituency. But as women, we need men too. This may sound contrary, but we need men to represent our rights as women, too. Men can be feminists. However, everyone can take on the role of a humanist.
Take time to join human and women’s rights groups, read up on the latest feminist movements or create different ways to conquer the confines set to prevent women’s equality.
It is clear that there is an ongoing war of men vs. women. This will only be solved when women unite and men join in the movement to demand women’s suffrage.
Cassie Carlson is a journalism junior and a Mustang Daily senior staff writer.