Reclaiming

By Beth Trouy

Thinkingof women’s history, I was recently researching the pay inequity between women and men with the hopes of seeing the gap narrowing. As the most recent and disappointing data appeared on my screen, the stern voice of Maxine Waters saying, “Reclaiming my time,” rang in my ears. Although she was speaking on another subject, she was putting up a similar fight in resisting the “mansplaining” happening in Congress that day nearly six years ago. Everyone remembers seeing this woman of great conviction unfazed, speaking truth to injustice. This pay gap is a glaring injustice, too, and seeing that it STILL exists, well, there must be some serious mansplaining going on to justify these numbers. It is time women speak up like Maxine has and demand to be heard. It is time for women to reclaim our time, our talent, and our value.

The US Census Bureau, Pew Research, and the US Government Accounting Office all report that in 202021, there was still nearly a 20 percent gap in women’s pay versus men’s for the same jobs. Women continue to earn only 83 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts.

For women in management, it gets worse. Female managers receive 23 percent less than men, and for women who own their own businesses, it’s the worst at 31 percent less. Apparently, the more assertive, ambitious, and driven a woman might be, the more it will cost her. Oh, and if that woman has darker skin, it becomes 37-42 percent less. Women, and yes, men as well, should be disgusted with this data. I include men as well because we are their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters, and surely, they agree that it should be equal pay for equal work!

Why are these pay gaps still present? Why, or more precisely, “Y”? In my view, it’s because we women do not have one, I suppose-a Y that is, in our DNA. There does not appear to be any other answer other than genes and the XX, XY distinction. How did this happen? Personally, blame Genesis and the writers of the silly creation story (and it is just a story, you know!).

It was hardly 100 years ago that we women could finally vote in the United States and only 60 years ago that we could have their own bank account without a man co-signing. If only Eve had not been created from the generously donated rib of Adam and then eaten that apple to ruin it for all mankind, she might not have been branded as the fallen and weaker sex. From the very beginning of time, women were placed as second-class citizens behind men, possibly because of Eve’s failure to resist temptation. I doubt we would be having this gender pay discussion today had the story been written differently. Think about it: what if Adam had come from the bosom of Eve and he had taken the apple from Satan? Truth be told, the story makes more sense that men came from women, and it was a man who wanted to be like God. But history is always written by the winners, and since the Bible was completely written by men, here we are with women still trying to find our rightful place of equality.

Like Maxine Waters, it takes a clear, persistent, and firm voice to get someone’s attention. Let the world hear our collective voice that we are reclaiming our time and our story. We reclaim the right to be paid as much as our male coworkers. We also reclaim the right to be assertive, ambitious, and outspoken without being labeled as a bitch or too emotional. We reclaim the right to be leaders by our own merit without the rumor that we must have slept with the boss to get our titles. We reclaim the right to be treated with the same respect and dignity regardless of whether we have a Y chromosome or not. You can keep that apple and the rib, too; we refuse to be second-class citizens in the country we helped raise. And if I can pick our spokesperson, I’d say that Maxine Waters can do the talking.