Equal pay for equal work

Lisa Hanna
Reflector Columnist

Equal pay for equal work. This statement sounds so logical; however, it has been a topic of debate for many. How long will it take America to reward women equally for the work they perform?

Last week I was talking to a friend and learned that in Burundi, Africa, women are paid equally for their work. While many Americans like to consider themselves world leaders, we are definitely not leaders when it comes to women's rights. The Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee women equal pay for equal work, has been proposed but not yet passed by our legislature. Why, you ask? I think there are two reasons.

First, feminists themselves are divided over the issue. Some feminists think women should be seen as a separate group with special needs in our society, while others think women should be viewed as individuals with individual needs. People who oppose the Equal Rights Amendment argue that under the amendment, women will lose the benefits they currently enjoy as a group, such as maternity leave. I disagree with this viewpoint. Before women can hope to gain special needs for their gender group, they must first be seen as equal at an individual level to men in our society. It is hard to fight for something such as maternity leave from your place of employment when you can't even break through the glass ceiling to get the job.

Also, it is hard to find one "special need" that applies to women as a group. For instance, I have no children, and do not plan to have children in the near future. The maternity leave issue does not affect me, and may not ever, even though I am a woman.

The second reason that I believe the Equal Rights Amendment has failed to pass in our Legislature is that most of our government representatives are still men. While there are many male officials who believe that women's rights is an important issue, as men they are more likely to place other issues first on their agendas. Until we have equal representation in our government, women's rights will have a long, uphill battle to bring about any change in government policies.

Unfortunately, it looks as if equal pay for equal work is still a long way off in our society. There are some things we can do to bring about this change. Write to your local representatives and let them know how you feel about pay discrepancies in your area. Also, support organizations like the National Organization for Women that fight for issues like equal pay. The only way we can achieve positive results to all lend a hand and do our part in the fight.