We’ve come a long way since the 1800s.

African Americans are no longer enslaved, homosexuals are free to marry whomever they please, women can vote and run for office and education has become a fundamental human right.

We’ve come a long way, but it still doesn’t seem to be enough.

The fight for women’s rights began over 150 years ago, and although there has been a significant amount of progress on the issue, women are still being oppressed by men and women who believe women are less intelligent, less qualified and less reliable than men.

At every level of academic achievement, men are still earning an average of 21 percent more than women, and it’s an even bigger gap for women of color. Although it differs by age and location, on average African American women only earn 64 cents and Latina women only earn 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes.

Women who are just as highly educated and just as qualified for the job are being discriminated against –— either intentionally or unintentionally — by employers in every profession and even though people are talking about it, we seem to have come to a standstill in this war for gender equality.

There is no logical reason why women shouldn’t receive the same treatment as men. We are no less capable of doing everything they can do, but for some reason people are still shocked that women are able to thrive in an occupation that is dominated by men.

Indeed, women are thriving in male-oriented occupations, but they are not being appropriately compensated for the work they do. We’ve made enormous advances in civil and political rights in the past decade alone so why is the fight for women’s rights moving at a snails pace? Isn’t equality a fundamental human right and not just something a 60-something white male can reap the benefits of?

Organizations like the American Association of University Women, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Organization for Women are doing their part in educating and advocating for equal rights for women. The AAUWs website lays out a few changes that can be made to help close the gender wage gap including:

Companies conducting salary audits to monitor and address gender-based pay differences.

Empowering women to advocate for themselves when it comes to salary, benefits, and promotions.

And telling Congress to take action for equal pay by updating the Equal Pay Act, which hasn’t been revised since 1963, with the Paycheck Fairness Act.

These actions aren’t going to close the gap on their own, but they are important steps that need to be taken to make a difference for women in the workplace if we want to move forward.

I’m choosing to move forward. I’m choosing to break barriers and not be oppressed by any man or woman. I’m choosing equality for everyone.