The passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is the talk of the town. Only after becoming involved in women’s studies and subsequently becoming a member of AAUW’s Student Advisory Council did I become aware of the pay gap.
When I first enrolled in college, I was coming from such a place of poverty that any job, whether it paid me less than a man or not, would do. I knew that I needed an education to get a job that would provide me with financial self-sufficiency. I just took it for granted that, of course, with a degree I would receive the same pay as my male counterparts.
After spending two and half years at a community college I transferred to the University of Hawaii at Manoa and enrolled in women’s studies courses. One of my professors made me aware that women were not making as much money as men at work. I thought, “What is she saying? Why is she rocking my happy little world of obtaining a degree and getting into the workforce?” I thought everything was fair if you had a degree. Her reaction to me was similar to Tom Cruise telling Matt Lauer “you’re glib.” I was dumbfounded. How could this be? Throughout the semester I learned more from other women’s studies professors about this situation.
Why are women’s studies professors the only ones mentioning the pay gap? I had been in school for two and half years, and this had never come up. Now thanks to them I get the picture. Women make less than men, 78 cents to the dollar and even less for women of color. I wondered what difference the Ledbetter bill will make. Lilly Ledbetter says the Fair Pay Act makes “sure that people can challenge discriminatory paychecks as long as they continue to receive them. … This bill would protect workers like me and give employers the incentive to fix pay problems voluntarily.”
So it is encouraging to me to see that the first bill President Obama signed was legislation for fair pay to protect workers like Lilly and me. While moving in the right direction is a success, the pay gap still needs to be pushed and shoved and kept at the forefront of all our minds, so that as women we are treated equally and are able to earn what we deserve based on our abilities. Take action now for fair pay.
This post was written by Pamela Nakanelua, member of the 2008–09 AAUW Student Advisory Council.
