On January 29, 2009, with the new law's namesake Lilly Ledbetter there to witness, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- legislation to fight pay discrimination and ensure fundamental fairness to American workers.
President Barack Obama first legislation signed into law was the Fair Pay Act. This act creates a law that gives women a longer period of time to sue for pay discrimination when before the law was that you had to sue within 120 days of when you were hired. Many women’s groups have said that this is a step in the right direction for the women’s movement and feminist agenda. Women for years have wanted equity for women and finally this is a step in the right direction of mending the wage gap between men and women. Currently as it sits women make 73 cent for every dollar that a man makes. Now this law will help to bridge that gap in men and women salaries.
Equal pay for equal work is something that no one in America or any country for that matter should have to fight for. Therefore if this law actually helps women in bridging the pay scale gap between men and women than it is a good law. Nonetheless like must laws, we as a people have to wait to see how it plays out and how it impacts the future of many women in America for generations to come. The reality is that it is truly an injustice to many women who do the same work as men but aren’t paid as equally as men. Therefore this is the shame and irony that many women for years have had to deal with. Now a step in the right direction to hopefully amend the travesty is finally taking place in this country.
Women are clearly just as capable of doing a men’s job but in today’s time, women still are ridiculed and criticized more than men. We can look no further than this past Presidential election where we saw the media and others use personal attacks on women such as Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and our First Lady Michelle Obama. Some of the questions and comments thrown at these women were uncalled for and unfair. In fact they were questions that men have never had to answer and where questions that were driven out of sexism and male chauvinism. That’s why equal pay for equal work is very important. If women are doing the same job and the same work as men than they should be paid like men.
It is bad enough that many women in this nation and throughout the world are denied promotions because they are women but when it comes to pay, there should not be almost a 25 cent gap for every dollar a men makes compared to women. That is a shame that the gap is that large but it shows that women still have not come far enough in the feminist movement. Nonetheless, equal pay for equal work is an issue that women should not have to fight on their own because minorities should stand with them on this issue because we have had to deal with this for a long time and we continue to deal with it to a degree.
However as minorities particularly African Americans, we have come a little bit further than women when it comes to pay but it is when women and minorities work together that we make changes in this country. Equal pay for equal work is something that we as Americans need to advocate for not only in America but in the world. No men, women or child should be paid less than anyone else if they are doing the same work as one of the counterparts. That’s why the issue of equal pay for equal work is one that I take to heart. Until this gap in pay between men and women is entirely equal or as near to equal as possible, than our society will continue to have issues in the workplace.
Equal pay for equal work is an issue that has gone ignored too long and it is an issue that many feminist groups and minority groups have fought for years to make policies that are fair for all Americans. We as Americans can’t allow equal pay for equal work to be a feminist issue when it affects all Americans. We are the land of equality, the land of opportunity and that is something that we all we all must make sure we make happen for all of Americans citizens. Equal pay for equal work gives everyone a fair chance at achieving the American Dream financially. Equal pay for equal work gives everyone an opportunity to live in the Home of the Brave with the idea that their children will have the same opportunities that have to do the same thing and make the same wages they make.
That’s why equal pay for equal work is an issue that we all must fight to keep in this country no matter. It is not just a women’s issue but it’s an issue that all of Americans and the world must fight to accomplish. Remember that an injustice anywhere is an injustice to all and that is why America needs to lead on this issue of equal pay for equal so that the rest of the world follows our actions. This is the way America has always advocated for international issues that plague us all but this is an issue long overdue in this quote unquote “Man’s World.” Equal pay for equal work is a step in the right direction of fighting inequality and injustices that have plagued America for years. Now we must fight this issue in other nations if we are going to make this world a better place for everyone to live and partake in with harmony, joy, peace and equality for all.
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