Lilly Ledbetter and the Fair Pay Act

President Obama has been in office for about a week now, and he's already signed into law a fairly substantial piece of legislation designed to close the equality gap between women and men. Lilly Ledbetter worked as a supervisor in a Goodyear plant for years and was paid substantially less than men at the same level as she and even less than men who was technically her subordinates. She never discovered the disparity until years later. She tried to sue the company, and her case eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. They basically told her, "Sorry, you can't sue because so many years have passed." The legislation Obama signed into law is designed to make it easier to sue for wage discrimination.

Obviously, this is a great step towards making men and women more equal, at least in the workplace. In the United States, women earn 76 cents for every dollar that a man makes. Fair, much? How is a woman supposed to advance herself in this world if it's already worked into the system that she will be paid less than a man? I think what bothers me that I wish there was a way for pay to be equaled out. Women shouldn't be forced to sue in order to earn the same wage as a man; it should be standard that women and men make the same wage.

Another thing that irks me that sort of goes hand in hand with this recent development is the jobs created by the stimulus plan. Many of them deal with the revitalization of our infastructure, and, as a faithful follower of Rachel Maddow, I'm able to tell you that our infastructure is in terrible order and definitely needs a major overhaul. BUT the problem is that these jobs are CONSTRUCTION jobs. Male-oriented industry, anyone? More inequitable pay issues, anyone? Will the United States ever be able to move past the 76 cents to every dollar problem that currently plauges American women (American women, indeed, but also women around the world face a similar issue, although the ratios are different: for example, I believe in the European Union the ratio is 84 cents to every dollar...goooo Europe!)

As per usual, I'm frustrated. The Lilly Ledbetter act is a giant step forward for women to be able to fight unequal wages, but will it actually help to close the gap? I feel like the legislation is a great way to be able to say, "Look, I did this for women!" but as to whether or not women will be bringing home more pay at the end of the day is another story. I guess in my nice little world inside my head, companies would recognize the threat of the Ledbetter Act and work to even out the wage disparities between men and women. In my perfect little world, the Ledbetter Act would quickly become obsolete.