I am SOOOO not a feminist!
A friend posted this meme on her facebook,
and I wrote the following reply. I decided not to post it, because it's
not right for me to hijack her page. Instead, I thought I'd post it here.
Don't believe everything you read online. There's more to the story than what this meme says.
The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, and
signed into law by Kennedy; there should be no need for a new one – just the
need to enforce laws that are already in place. It's been widely reported
that Obama pays his female staffers less; Wendy Davis paid her female staffers
less from 2009-2013. This is a people-problem – NOT a party line problem – and the
law needs to be enforced on Capitol Hill, as well as in the general population.
As for the pay-gap, when you compare
job-to-job, women are usually very close to men's pay, if not equal-to (and
frequently paid more) for the same work. However, if you're comparing the
pay of waitstaff (predominately women) with oil workers (predominately men),
there will be a HUGE gap in gender-vs.-pay.
I was hired to do the same work as another
woman in my office, but she is paid quite a bit more than I am. She's
only been in the job about 3 years longer than I have, but I can't make the
same amount, even though I had similar (not identical) experience. Yea –
it’s unfair, because I work more hours than she does, and manage a program
that's twice the size of hers – but there is nothing I can do about it now.
I accepted this job, at the pay I got, so I can't do much other than a)
find a better-paying job, or b) fight to try and get a raise. OH – did I mention she's a minority? – maybe I should file a lawsuit
because I have been discriminated against because I'm white.... That
would be absurd! Did I also mention that EVERY person in the hiring
process – my boss, her boss, her
boss's boss, and the HR veeps – were ALL FEMALE (no men were involved in the
deal I was offered). My point is that, YES, women should be paid equally; yet, while equal pay for equal jobs looks good
on paper, there are often other reasons for the differences. I failed
to do research regarding what average pay is for my job – that’s now MY
problem. If you don't like your
"underpaid" job, maybe it's time to find a new one...
I challenge you to get your info regarding
what Republicans and/or conservatives want/believe/philosophize from sites that
are not left-leaning – and for the opposite to hold true, as well. You
might be surprised to learn that they are not as evil as most liberals like to
believe. Study history, and see who made what policies, who freed slaves,
who passed laws to provide better pay for minorities, etc. Study farm-bill
history. Get your information from time-honored sources, and not places like
the Huffington Post or the major news outlets – all of which have obvious
political spin. I try to look at both
points of view through the eyes of their own particular party – if I only
believe what conservatives/Republicans post about liberals/progressives/Democrats,
I would never even SPEAK to one, let alone call him/her my "friend."
It's time to put the partisan negative
talk to bed, and get educated about the truth. I'm tired of being told,
or hearing that, I'm stupid, lazy, evil, healthcare-hating, woman-hating
(Hellllloooooo – I AM a woman!), poor-hating, minority-hating, etc., because I
am conservative. To the contrary, I am educated, intelligent, ridiculously
compassionate, and dream of solving world hunger problems; I also oppose
entitlements (for those able to work, but milking the system), the
ACA/Obamacare (they should've fixed Medicare/caid, rather than pushing us
toward the single-payer system that they want), and am staunchly against what
appears to be a socialist agenda. I oppose amnesty for the masses of
illegal immigrants, but fully support those who seek immigration through legal
means (and I support fixing the system so that it isn't so difficult to
immigrate legally!)
I work for a non-profit, which falls under
"entitlements," and I see how our elderly are treated by our
government. How many people do you know on food stamps? I know families of 4 or 5, who get
$700-$1000/month for food stamps, plus who knows how much welfare – and are
perfectly able-bodied to find work, but have stopped looking (they’ve told me
they’re good with what the government gives them, so why bother?). My
senior volunteers, who want to work
but are at an age that it’s getting very difficult to find a job, get an
average of $800/month is Social Security, and an average of $16 (yes – SIXTEEN
dollars) a month in food stamps. Their food stamps were cut from an
average of $125/month to $16! That's WRONG.
So sure, we can sit around and whine that
we aren't paid equally because we're female; I, however, think we need to focus
on the bigger issues that are going on around us and stop being mean to each
other. Stop pointing fingers. Stop blaming conservatives, Congress (there
are 3 branches of government, people!) and George W. Bush. Wake up, people – we are actively giving up
our freedoms to an out-of-control government that shames us for being
exceptional. As I’ve said in previous
posts, for hundreds of years, people have risked life and limb to get to
America. Why? Because we ARE EXCEPTIONAL. Don’t you think it’s time
that we start acting like it?
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