Paycheck Fairness Act

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/opinion/chang-paycheck-fairness-act/index.html

Growing up, my family was a little different than most. I remember thinking it was “normal” until I started elementary school. Majority of my friends had stay-at-home moms and their dads worked to support the family financially. Not in my house. My mom is our financial power-house, we all split the household chores, and my dad worked but not nearly as much as my mom. My parents work for the same company but my mom is a vice president of sales and my dad is a technician. I remember them arguing over how much my mom worked because she had a demanding job and it did consume a lot of her time. My parents are divorced now and they are both financially stable but my mom lives more comfortably.

            This article describes exactly what I learned in school that made me realize my family was unique in that sense. The article describes a scenario in which women and minorities that do the exact same job as a white male get paid significantly less. This problem is reoccurring in the past and present workforce. It also talks about how people have gotten fired for talking about how much money they make in their place of employment. To put a stop to this unlawful problem, the government came up with the Paycheck Fairness Act. It says, “The Paycheck Fairness Act would prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their pay with co-workers. It would also close loopholes in the existing Equal Pay Act that deny victims of sex discrimination the same legal remedies as victims of discrimination based on race or ethnicity” (Chang). People think that gender inequalities don’t exist in our society anymore but there are still cases every day that deal with women facing discrimination in the workforce.

            Statistics show that the 77-cent pay gap between men and women adds up faster than people expect. This article relates to systems of oppression and the doing gender lessons from class. White men are the privileged and women or minorities are the targeted social groups. Women are still facing the oppression and society still sees men as the “money makers.” It’s good to see the government is taking steps to legally help the problems with laws preventing them. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a family that didn’t fall into this stereotypical situation because it taught me that men and women can be equal. My mom works hard for what she has and it’s a constant motivator to be financially independent myself no matter what my partner does.