It’s kind of strange to me that when I served in the military, I was paid by my grade and thus equal to each one of the dudes at the same grade working alongside me, and yet since I’ve been back in the civilian world, chances are the dudes around me were making more for the same jobs I’ve done. Why can’t we, as a country, adopt our own military pay policy? You’re the head grilled cheese maker (It’s National Grilled Cheese Day!) in charge aka HGCMiC at pay grade TGC-1 (Top Grilled Cheese-1), you make x dollars. Next two levels down, the bread bakers BB-1, BB-2 make slightly less, based on the rise of their dough, and so on. Pay by the job; what’s gender got to do with it? Or color? Sadly, if you’re a woman not working for the government, you’re underpaid compared to your male counterpart Via CNN Money, here are the ridiculous figures in a few states:
Louisiana — $1.00 Dude Dollar = .65 Woman Cents
Indiana/Michigan — $1.00 Dude Dollar = .75 Woman Cents
New Jersey/South Carolina/Virginia/Kentuck — $1.00 Dude Dollar = .80 Woman Cents
Maryland/Nevada/Florida/North Carolina — $1.00 Dude Dollar = .85 Woman Cents
The highest paid women are in the nation’s capitol, but we’re still underpaid by ten cents. That shit adds up! And if you’re a minority woman, the stats are even worse:
This #EqualPayDay, @HouseDemocrats renew commitment to helping #WomenSucceed. Let’s pass the Paycheck Fairness Act! pic.twitter.com/nUyeEYXc2R
— Rep. Doris Matsui (@DorisMatsui) April 12, 2016
Not only is this shameful, but it’s completely idiotic. As a country we’ve recognized that women can fight in combat on the front lines, and we’ll pay our military women to do so — to defend and uphold the rights of our citizens — so surely we can pay them just as accordingly when they return to civilian life.
In honor of #EqualPayDay, President Obama made a lovely speech and paid homage to all who have fought for equality; the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum — an historic house on Capitol Hill — will now be known as Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument…
…but you know what we’d rather have than a monument?
EQUAL MOTHEREFFIN’ PAY.
