Jennifer Lawrence recently penned a piece titled, “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?” She talked about capitulating early in negotiations for American Hustle for fear of seeming “difficult or spoiled,” but when the Sony hack came to light, she learned that she earned millions less than her male costars.

Read the comments and you’ll see people arguing about whether she is on the same level as the other male costars, but even Jeremy Renner earned more than her in his supporting role and he lacked her Oscar cred and impressive star power (she helmed the massively popular Hunger Games and was beloved by the internet). Others will point out that she should have negotiated more and that she admitted as much, which is kind of like saying, “You should have pushed against these ingrained sexist conventions and jeopardized your personal reputation instead of maintaining your relationships with powerful industry players.” (Okay random Internet commenter, let’s see you tackle this complicated social situation.) Others will point out that she already earns so much money, so why is she complaining? (Next up on “People Who Completely Missed The Point”…)

So why does this matter? Because Lawrence said, “I don’t think I’m the only woman with this issue.”

According to the statistics, Lawrence is right. The problem of the wage gap has been widely documented. In 2013, women earned 78.3% as much as men earned, or as it is usually said, 78 cents on the man’s dollar. The percentage varies depending on ethnicity (black women have it the worst, as always), age, and marital status. But for whatever reason, many people try to justify why a wage gap exists or argue that it doesn’t (they call it a myth, possibly the same people who believe black people have achieved 100% equality in the U.S.).

Fortune magazine stated that more than half of 10,000 millennial women in a study didn’t think the pay gap applied to them. Though their pay gap is smaller, women under 35 (me and all my female friends) still only earn 90 cents to a male counterpart’s dollar.

Eff that.

No, seriously. The thing is, if we don’t complain about this, if we don’t believe we are being cheated and demand our fair share, then nothing will change. Employers have zero incentive to point out unfair salaries. Heck, if they can pay half of their employees only 78% of what the other half earns but still get the same amount of work done? Congrats women, you are free labor, woohoo! (Are you feeling angry yet?)

The wage gap is a glaring error in economic equality between the sexes, which affects the political and social realms as well. When we are not advancing economic equality, we actually put more strain on gender relations and social realities. Men are no longer the sole breadwinners, so when women earn less than men, that has a direct negative impact on the families’ finances and children’s opportunities, especially in single mother households.

Now consider this:

Men – Imagine a world where you aren’t expected to pay for dinner on a date.

Women – Imagine a world where you are never pressured to have sex because a guy paid for your meals.

That is the beauty of creating equality. More equality equals more respect and less weird societal expectations to place unnecessary pressure on us. I imagine that when women finally earn as much as men, whoever asks the other person on a date will be the one who pays for it – it will be a sign of respect, not a sign of expectation.

Creating economic equality will also encourage social equality – women who see themselves as true equals will ask men on dates, no longer afraid of being seen as “aggressive” and hence less desirable, which will also relieve the pressure of rejection off the shoulders of men. If women earn as much as men, then paternity leave will become a more viable, affordable, and demanded option. Men will have more time to develop relationships with their kids and that will contribute to the well-being of future generations.

One of the ways we can combat wage discrepancy is by teaching women how to negotiate and that it is okay to “be difficult” when it comes to asking for your fair share. I fear that so many of us women, when negotiating, feel the pressure of maintaining our social relationships vs. demanding our worth. Maybe this is because women are schooled early in the dangers of social ostracizing, where girls use words and emotional manipulation instead of fists to get others to do what they want. If I said the wrong thing as a young girl, I could get shut out of friendships for days on end.

Many women are taught early not to step on anyone’s toes and this socialization takes a very long time to undo on your own. (Add to this, society’s tendency to see strong, assertive, even aggressive businesswomen as “bitches.”) Notice how in her letter, Lawrence says both “don’t hate me” and that she doesn’t want to “piss anyone off.” Now point me to a single instance in history where a male human used those phrases to argue for equal pay for equal work.

Gender roles are changing rapidly, but some people might not want to give up the privileges that an unequal system affords them. Some men might like having more buying power than half the population. They might like being the ones who pay for dates and embodying that societal construct of “feeling like a man.” Some women might like to be taken financially care of on dates or in marriages.

But it is not a system that can last or one that we should continue to reinforce if we value things like fairness and that famous phrase “Equality for All.” If we want equality, we can’t expect Jennifer Lawrence to do all our legwork. We can’t lurk on the Internet and let others fill the comment boards with things like, “I see feminists are still as narcissistic and insufferable as ever.” Calling women “bitches” for speaking up is just a poor attempt to silence them. It’s up to all of us to encourage women to negotiate their fair share and call out the people who deem them ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled’ for doing so.

Also, I’d like to get paid as much as my male coworkers, thank you, for doing the same work.

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About the Author

Anastasia writes sci-fi novels and short stories. When not writing, she does other cool things like hanging out with her cats, allowing her Chinese skills to deteriorate, and contemplating life as a Big Scary Adult.



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