Happy 19th birthday, Malala!
Thank you for your courageous work to empower women and girls. You inspire us every day!
💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Yaaaaas! 👏 👏 The amazing and inspiring @chescaleigh totally rocked it at #NCCWSL16, reminding us of the true meaning of “allyship.”
These new emojis could finally reflect that women are professionals, too
Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Want Equal Funds' Is the Feminist Anthem You Need
Yaaas! 💕💰
“I come home, in the morning light my mother says ‘why don’t you make the same as a guy.
Oh mama, dear, we’re not the fortunate ones, ’cause girls, they want equal funds.”
At Work, Dads Get a Bonus, but Moms Get a Penalty. What Gives?
Sunday is Mother’s Day. But moms aren’t getting everything they deserve. Mothers typically are paid only 73 cents for every dollar fathers are paid.
Wait, it gets worse. After becoming fathers, men see a 6 percent *increase* in earnings — even after controlling for factors such as hours worked and marital status — while new mothers see a 4 percent *decrease* per child.
Sound fair? We didn’t think so.
What’s the Gender Pay Gap in Your State?
“Happy” Equal Pay Day! The gender pay gap exists in almost every congressional district. Find out how your state stacks up.
April 12 is Equal Pay Day.
Equal Pay Day marks the symbolic day when women’s pay finally “catches up” to men’s pay from the previous year.
You’ve probably heard that men are paid more than women are paid over their lifetimes. But what does that mean? Get the facts, and take action to close the gender pay gap. Every woman deserves equal pay!
Um, we wish. In the immortal words of Rihanna, #paymewhatyouoweme.
BREAKING: The gender pay gap has CLOSED! Oh wait…
We *wish* the pay gap were just a (bad) joke. Take action now.
Justin Trudeau: I'll Keep Saying I'm A Feminist Until There's No Reaction
We can’t get enough of Vox’s Liz Plank! (And Justin Trudeau doesn’t hurt, either.)
Want to see more of Liz? Watch her LIVE on Wednesday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET when she joins AAUW’s panel on gender bias and women in the media. Follow @AAUW and the hashtag #leadHERship as we live tweet the event.
How Women and Girls Are Marching Toward Equity in Sports
Tthe United States has a long way to go in order to achieve gender equity in sports. Girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys have and are offered only 43 percent of the opportunities to play sports in college. Despite the passage of Title IX, many girls and young women lack access to safe practice conditions, appropriate equipment, reliable transportation to and from games, and the funds needed to participate in organized athletics. These setbacks cause girls to drop out of sports at twice the rate that boys do.
Though there’s still much more work to be done, it’s important to celebrate the recent progress that has been made in women’s sports. Here are a few of the most notable recent wins for women athletes.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Dominates
Wins: In 2015 the U.S. women’s national soccer team became national heroes after their show-stopping performance in the Women’s FIFA World Cup broke television ratings records. Team members were featured in advertisements and Alex Morgan became the first woman on the cover of EA Sports’ FIFA video game. Even President Barack Obama commented on how “badass” this team is.
Losses: Despite the team’s accomplishments and the overall increase in popularity of women’s soccer, the general media coverage of women’s sports remains depressing. In 2014, ESPN’s SportsCenter dedicated just 2 percent of its airtime to women’s sports. Additionally, compared to their male counterparts, women soccer players are paid significantly less and exposed to poor practice conditions. Abby Wambach, the team’s former captain, was paid far less in her career than her male peers were, despite having scored more goals than any man or woman in professional soccer history.
Serena Williams Continues to Crush It
Wins: Williams was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2015, making her the first woman in more than three decades to nab the title as well as the first solo woman of color to ever hold the honor. As the number one women’s tennis player in the world, Williams earns more than $13 million in endorsements and is a trailblazer for women athletes all over the world. She continues to empower girls and women, especially women of color, every step of the way.
Losses: Even with her many achievements, Williams often receives harsh media criticism about her body image and physique. Williams is also subjected to limitations on her ability to obtain endorsements and is paid less than professional male tennis players. Her endorsements fade in comparison to male tennis stars like Rafael Nadal, who made $28 million over the last year, and Roger Federer, who was paid $58 million in endorsements.
Women Coaches Gain Visibility
Wins: It’s no secret that there is a lack of women’s representation and visibility in major sports, but a few coaches are challenging the traditional notion of what it takes to be a leader and coach in men’s professional leagues. Across the country, women are getting hired to coach men’s professional sports teams. Last year, Jen Welter became the first female assistant coaching intern in the NFL and Kathryn Smith was hired as the league’s first full-time woman coach.
Losses: Even with the progress that has been made in hiring women coaches, professional leagues have a long way to go to reach gender equity. Women lack serious leadership roles in professional sports leagues across the board and remain vastly underrepresented on the coaching staff of both men’s and women’s professional teams.
Women’s Hockey League Is Finally a Thing
Wins: In case you missed it: There is now a professional women’s hockey league in the United States. That’s right; for the first time ever, professional women’s hockey players will be paid for their talents on the ice. This is big!
Losses: As in other women’s sports, reaching equality in athletics doesn’t just stop with the creation of a league. Women hockey players face one of the most dramatic pay disparities in professional sports, with the typical player being paid a meager average annual salary of just $15,000. Hilary Knight, one of the most talented and experienced players in the National Women’s Hockey League, will be paid only $22,000 this season. This salary is just a quarter of 1 percent of what Patrice Bergeron, the highest-paid player on the Boston Bruins, will make this year. Ouch.
The recent achievements of women in sports show that women athletes are no longer sitting on the sidelines. But even my beloved March Madness has a long way to go to reach equity for women’s athletics. AAUW found a significant pay gap between coaches of men’s and women’s basketball teams, and a gender pay gap among graduates from nearly all the schools competing.
Title IX is best known for helping to ensure gender equity in athletics, but the law goes deeper than sports, preventing sexual discrimination in all areas of education. Title IX requires that every school designate at least one employee to coordinate the school’s compliance; however, many coordinators don’t have the resources to do their job effectively. In some cases, many don’t know they’ve been assigned the role. Help AAUW enforce this critical law by pledging to deliver resources from the U.S. Department of Education to your school’s Title IX coordinator.
This blog was written by AAUW Senior Program Association of Campus Leadership Programs Paige Robnett.
Source: bit.ly
These Are the Feminist Valentines You Were Looking For
Along with roses and chocolates, Valentine’s Day comes with a deluge of tired, patriarchal, and heterosexist clichés. But don’t fret! Our feminist valentines are just what your activist heart desires.
Help spread the love! Be sure to share your favorites on Facebook or Twitter.
For the diehard Spice Girls fan (girl power!)
Share on Facebook I Share on Twitter
Because who doesn’t love Stevie Wonder … and repro rights!
Share on Facebook I Share on Twitter
Wait, you mean Title IX isn’t what Meat Loaf was singing about?
Share on Facebook I Share on Twitter
And just in case the message wasn’t clear …
Share on Facebook I Share on Twitter
Want more feminist gems? Connect with AAUW on social media!
Twitter I Instagram I Facebook
Embrace feminism to improve decision-making, says Justin Trudeau
🙌 “Let’s start rewarding politicians and companies who aren’t driven by a macho approach.”
These Four Supreme Court Cases Were Major Victories in 2015
2015 brought in a wave of wins for gender equity. Let’s keep it up in 2016!
1. A Win for the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Young v. UPS went to the heart of one of the most important workplace protection laws: the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). Passed in 1978, the PDA states unequivocally that pregnancy discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, and it requires employers to treat pregnant employees the same as non-pregnant employees who have similar abilities or inabilities to work. This spring, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of Peggy Young, which means that she will be able to present her case to the lower court for a ruling on the merits. Had the court sided with UPS, it could have weakened the PDA’s protection for pregnant workers.
2. Women’s Health Care Protected
King v. Burwell was yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act. In King, opponents of the health care law argued that tax credits that help low-income people afford health care coverage should only be available to people in states with state-run health care exchanges. If the court had sided with the challengers, millions of women would have lost health care coverage.
3. Voting Rights: Victories and Questions
With a major election cycle gearing up, voting rights are on our minds.The court saw several significant cases this term that addressed gerrymandering and redistricting. Two of the most significant were the linked cases Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama. The court of appeals sided with the state. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed, sending the plan back to the lower court for a district-by-district review. Although the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the plan, it indicated that a majority of justices believed that at least some of the districts were drawn unconstitutionally. The court’s decision doesn’t ensure that the plan will be declared unconstitutional by the lower court, but it offers a chance for the challengers to make a case.
As we approach the 2016 election next year, these challenges will be front and center.
4. And Last But Not Least, Marriage Equality Prevailed!
Though all of the court’s decisions are significant, this term will be remembered for one particular case: Obergefell v. Hodges. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states must allow same-sex couples to marry and must recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, relied on earlier cases that had established the right to marry as a fundamental right. Of the same-sex couples seeking to marry, he wrote, “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Humans Will Probably Walk on Mars Before Women Get Equal Pay
Here are just some of the things we might have before women achieve equal pay: flying cars, long walks on Mars, teleportation, hoverboards, household robots. Houston, we have a problem.
Based on two different projections — the pace of change since the 1960s and the pace of change in the past decade — women won’t see equal pay until 2059 or 2276, respectively. That’s because progress in closing the gender pay gap has stalled in recent years. The result? It could be more than 250 years, or nearly three generations, until women get fair pay.
There’s a problem when futuristic wish lists become more realistic than the prospect of equity. You can help close the pay gap by donating to AAUW this #GivingTuesday.
Altogether, the gender pay gap costs a typical woman at least $400,000 over the course of her career. That’s no small chunk of change. Because of the pay gap, women are more likely than men to live in poverty, struggle with the burden of student debt, and experience economic insecurity in retirement. The harm caused by pay inequity runs deep, especially given that women make up a record 40 percent of U.S. breadwinners.
According to AAUW’s latest research, women working full time, year round are paid only 79 cents for every dollar men are paid. The pay gap is even worse for mothers and women of color. African American women are typically paid just 63 percent of what white men are paid. Hispanic and Latina women face the largest gap, making 54 percent of white men’s earnings. For these women, it’s arguably more likely that their grandchildren will live with robots or walk on Mars than have fair pay.
For ourselves and our children, it’s time to pick up the pace in the fight for fair pay.
Founded in 1881, AAUW has been studying the gender pay gap since 1894, when we first analyzed the pay of college-educated women. Through the years, we’ve continued to conduct groundbreaking research on pay equity as well as advocate for policy and legislative action to close the pay gap. AAUW members were in the room when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963. More recently, AAUW members worked tirelessly to help pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was signed into law in 2009. It was a start, but the pay gap remains. And as trends show, it’s sticking around — that is, unless we act.
Equal pay shouldn’t be a dream for our great, great, great granddaughters. Agree? Lend a hand this #GivingTuesday!
Luckily, there are many things employers, individuals, and governments can do to help speed up the process, including supporting AAUW.When it comes to policy, we must continue to advocate for strong pay equity legislation, including the long-stalled Paycheck Fairness Act, as well as encourage employers to support flexible work schedules and conduct job audits to ensure fairness. AAUW also educates the public about the harm of the pay gap, and we hold national workshops to empower women to hone their salary negotiation skills. In September, we announced a collaboration with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement to bring AAUW’s Work Smart salary negotiation workshop to half the working women in Bostonover the next five years. These efforts are critical elements as we work to close the gender pay gap.
It’s been an uphill battle, but progress has occurred. We’ve made strides since the 1930s, when the federal government actually required that its female workers be paid 25 percent less than male workers in the same jobs. Back then, American women likely felt that the prospect of receiving a paycheck equal to a man’s was the stuff of science fiction. But groups like AAUW have helped lead the charge in policy and cultural shifts. Today, we have the power to make fair pay a reality — if we all take action and chip in.