Americans claim to believe in equal rights. We even have it written into our Constitution. Shouldn't equal pay for equal work be one of the most basic equal rights? Of course it should! But for all of this nation's history, one group or another has been denied this basic right to equal treatment and women have always been in that number.
The list above shows the 10 jobs in this country that have the biggest difference in pay between men and women (for doing the same job). Note that they all pay women even worse than the national average of 77 cents for every dollar a man makes -- with the most lucrative for women (educational administer) paying only about 69.3% of what a man would make who had the same job. That's ridiculous. Can anyone really believe that a man would do a better job and deserve more money than a woman in that job -- or any of the other jobs on that list? Of course not. Competence and talent know no gender (or race, ethnicity, age, or any other physical trait).
It is time that Congress passed the Paycheck Fairness Act. Frankly, I don't understand how any elected official could oppose it, since opposing it would be like a slap in the face to every working woman in this country. But the Republicans have a different view. They filibustered the bill in the Senate last year and killed it -- and if it came up again this year they would most likely do the same thing. They don't seem to have any problem with women being kept as second-class citizens in this country -- without the same pay (or rights) given a man.
It makes me wonder, how can any woman (or any man who loves the women in his life) ever vote for a Republican?
This sends a continuing negative message to young women that they are STILL considered second-class citizens. And since most of the Congress is made up of men, we need to ask them what they think of their wives and daughters chances of making a fair wage today and publish their answers. Are we supposed to stay home 'barefoot and pregnant' as most of the conservative neanderthals in DC think? If so, who would they employ in those jobs that men usually avoid like secretary, nurse, etc. When men start working in "traditionally female" jobs, they might appreciate equal pay for equal work.
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