At a high school in Utah, three girls organized a bake sale in which girls had to pay 0.77¢ for a cookie while boys had to pay 1.00$. The message that these girls were trying to send is that women earn 0.77¢ to every dollar that a man earns for the same amount of work. Their approach to tackling this issue head on was very creative and clearly got their message across for it to garner this much attention from the media. The gender wage gap is one of today’s most pressing issues because it promotes inequality and allows for women to continue to be oppressed. This is a positive step towards attaining equal pay rights for women in the workforce.
Although I think that these girls did an excellent job of delivering their message, in that it was very much to the point, there were a couple of problematic aspects with their delivery. A male student wanted to engage in a discussion relating to the issue that these girls believe so strongly in and their response to him was “go away” (Carlisle, 2015). The fact that these girls did not take this opportunity to fight for their stance on equal pay, and describe their reasoning is very surprising to me. It is also very interesting to note that the young man who seems to have an issue with these girls’ message is a white male. He is undoubtedly the most privileged demographic of our population, and also the oppressor. This can be interpreted as him trying to take back the power that he already has from these girls who are trying to prove a point through the use of this gender equality bake sale. It is almost as though he is not okay with this reversal of gender roles, and did not want to experience how the other half lives.
There are many contributing factors to the gender wage gap, one of which being women needing or choosing to leave, and then re-enter the workforce due to care-giving responsibilities (Pay Equity Commission, 2014). This is in reference to instances such as women having to take maternal leave and then coming back and losing their seniority, as well as advancement opportunities. This is essentially punishing women for needing to care for their children. This all boils down to gender discrimination, and a lack of equality within the workforce. There is no logical reason for why women are continuously discriminated against in terms of wages.
Another thing that I found to be alarming was the short sightedness of these three girls in that they were only appealing to one racial aspect of this issue, which was the pay gap between white men and white women. There are racial and ethnic barriers for women of different backgrounds within the context of the gender pay gap, and there was no mention of this throughout the article or the interview. Black women fall far below the 0.77¢ mark that white women do, earning 0.64¢ while Hispanic women earn even less with 54¢ (Wallace, 2014). Many black women of colour are paid significantly less than white women even when they have the same educational background (Wallace, 2014). This is extremely indicative of the fact that qualifications are not the whole story behind wage gaps, and that the only possible explanation is discrimination. A look at how intersectionality comes into play when discussing the gender pay gap would have really strengthened their argument. Looking at this issue from various angles reveals that there are many intersectional disadvantages to this topic. In failing to acknowledge the experience of black, Hispanic, or Asian women, they are unknowingly allowing for discrimination to occur.
Although I can appreciate the point of gender equality that these three girls were trying to get across with this bake sale, I think that including the statistics pertaining to the experience of other races would have made for a well-rounded delivery of their message. Women are more than deserving of equal pay rights, considering that in this day and age women are just as qualified as their male counterparts. This kind of discrimination needs to stop because it is purely on the basis of gender, and has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the work.
-Angel15
Words: 709
References
Carlisle, Randall. “Gender Equality Bake Sale Causes Stir at Utah High School.” Good4Utah. 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://www.good4utah.com/story/d/story/gender-equality-bake-sale-causes-stir-at-utah-high/10246/0gE6cCkPA0mvNkLZEjyO4Q>.
“Gender Wage Gap.” Pay Equity Commission. 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://www.payequity.gov.on.ca/en/about/pubs/genderwage/wagegap.php>.
Wallace, Rachel. “By the Numbers: A Look at the Gender Pay Gap.” AAUW Empowering Women Since 1881 By the Numbers A Look at the Gender Pay Gap. 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://www.aauw.org/2014/09/18/gender-pay-gap/>.
Purple Cacti 
Good analysis! I totally agree with you that they did well with tackling the problem of gender equality straight on. I never realized that the boy who argued was a white male! Good catch! I feel like his argument is somewhat valid though, because the girls should have information to back them up. I also feel like they could have handled the situation better than just telling him to “go away”. I completely agree with your argument that these girls only included white women in their argument and not other minorities. Good job! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article.
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Good review. Great mentioning maternity leave because that is a widely discussed topic when people bring up the wage gap. I think your review would have been strengthened by a thesis in the first paragraph as well as a similar statement in the last paragraph. This is because your final sentence “This kind of discrimination needs to stop because it is purely on the basis of gender, and has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the work” discredited the intersectional approach you you took. The intersectional stance was great but the last sentence just focused on gender.
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I really enjoyed this piece. I liked the fact that although you agreed with the cause of the girls, you still took time to analyze it and found what you agreed and disagreed with. I really agree with your point about intersectionality. I feel that the girls did not discuss it because it did not really affect them or their surroundings. According to the news clip attached to the article, the school appears to be a predominately white school, so maybe they did not include it because they were not aware of the problem of intersectionality. But I feel as they continue supporting equal pay for women, they’ll come to know about it, and include it in their campaigns.
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