For every dollar that a man is paid, a woman is paid only 79 cents. It is difficult to understand why this is still happening in such a modern and progressive society. While this argument may seem simple or overly discussed, the wage gap is still a very real thing. Once it has vanished, that is when we can lay this topic to rest.
2015 was the year of the feminist. It seemed that women were unstoppable this past year, or that we finally started to pay the women that were always unstoppable the attention that they truly deserved. Women in entertainment like Lena Dunham and Amy Schummer, amazing women in politics like Hillary Clinton and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and everyday women fighting for their right to make decisions for their own bodies when it comes to birth control and abortion proved that women have always been doing amazing things and still are.
We live in a patriarchal society where for far too long, men have been thought of has stronger, smarter, and more valuable. It is the 21st century and women have been contributing just as much if not more to society for many years. In an article that Jennifer Lawrence wrote for Lenny Letter, she spoke about her frustrations with the wage gap.
"If I'm honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight", confessed Lawrence. She continued on to say that men are applauded when they state their opinions with ferocity and aggression, but women are condemned.
However, it is not just that women are simply being paid less than men. It has been proven that women tend to enter lower-paying fields. Many women have been raised to believe that being a doctor or an engineer is simply a man's profession. This goes hand in hand with being brought up in a patriarchy. It is long overdue that we start teaching young girls and boys that women can do whatever they want when they grow up. They can be astronauts, brain surgeons, and scientists.
As previously mentioned, 2015 really was the year of the feminist, so I do believe that we are well on our way to equal pay for men and women. I'm sure we can all agree that more people find it ridiculous that this is still an issue than people that believe the wage gap makes sense. It is a matter of us joining forces and making sure that future generations are raised to believe that women are capable of anything and are not fragile or sweet.
Leave the wage gap behind in 2015 so that our daughters are learning about this disappointing time in their textbooks and are not left to be living in a society where men and women are not equal.
