Last week was Equal Pay Day.
The purpose of the day is to highlight the gender wage disparity, but let’s be clear: The Equal Pay Act, which was passed into law in 1963 when JFK was President, is 54 years old. It makes it illegal to pay women less, and yet, here we are making on average 20% less than men doing the same job.
Every year, I’m angry about Equal Pay Day. We discuss the problem, we read and write articles, note the event on social media, talk about how this isn’t fair and we need to do better…and then, it’s no longer Tuesday…and 365 days later it happens again. The situation isn’t set to resolve itself for another 217 years. Think about it: the United States has only existed for 241 years. So, much like the nerd trying to lose his virginity in a John Hughs film, this is never, never going to happen.
Unless…
Unless the underdogs ban together to slowly begin to move the needle. Unless we stop viewing our skills as less, and start amplifying not only our own voice, but the voice of other women. We stop seeing them as competition, and start viewing them as sisters. We negotiate for ourselves. We hire, promote, and advocate for one another. When notice our own bias, and the boss’s bias, and when we’re harder on the women. And slowly, we create community and answers, and gain the confidence in our skills so that equality isn’t a pipe dream. It’s reality.
Here’s My Dream
I haven’t always been the best advocate. In the past, I have seen other women as competition, as someone I have to distinguish myself from. I have been harder on female employees, because I know they’re better than that. I regret it, and I’m sorry, and it stops with me.
As Maya Angelou says, “When you know better you do better,” and now on the teaching end, I’d like to contribute my skill set with a monthly class. This is an experiment, but if the interest is there, we’ll keep going. On deck: Goal Digger: How to Advocate for Self. All the statistics show that women don’t negotiate for themselves at the same rate as men. Even when they do negotiate for themselves, they are often seen less favorably than men. Think bossy, pushy, bitchy, and of course, selfish.
Is a woman really selfish for wanting equal pay for equal work? For wanting to be acknowledged for her contribution? While it’s important to learn the skills we need to be heard, we also need to change the society we’ve inherited. And we can’t do that without one another. We saw the results of The Women’s March and The March for Our Lives. We are stronger together. Oprah is right: A new dawn is on the horizon. But in order for the sun to break, we have to be brave not only for ourselves. We have to grab our friends and ask that they be brave as well.
So I propose we start on April 26th, learning to advocate for us, while building our tribe. If the topic doesn’t speak to you, but you’d like to help create a community of supportive, like minded women, sign up for updates, or join the Work. Like A Girl. community. If the topic does speak to you, we’ve priced the class to merely cover costs so we can make it accessible to everyone. For less than a glass of wine, you can:
- learn the five methods of negotiating, and be able to counteract someone else’s tactics
- plan for a difficult conversation, and ask the right questions to position yourself to receive a “yes.”
- learn what you have to know and do in order to be heard and respected when the room gets heated
Avoidance isn’t working. So let’s see if together we can create something new.
Register for the online class (it’s recorded if you can’t make it), and help us move this needle. If this speak to you, please share it with your friends.
