The Equal Pay Act

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One problem that Americans are facing is the inequality between men and women, whether it is in everyday life or in a professional atmosphere. One step that has been taken toward equality was introduced with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, signed by President John F. Kennedy. This law was the first affecting the amount of job opportunities available for women and allowing them to work in traditionally male dominated fields. On the outside, this would sound like a solution where nothing could possibly go wrong, but it is not. There are nearly as many women as there are men working, yet, as it was discovered in 2011, on average, a woman will only earn seventy-seven cents for every dollar that a man earns. Women owned businesses make up for over a quarter of all national businesses and earn more than one point two trillion dollars (“Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future” 6). Since many women are now becoming are the primary sources of income in the household, making less that a man does not only negatively affect families, but also the overall economy suffers as well. These women, among many others, are the ones who end up purchasing the supplies that go toward improving communities and stimulating the economy. There is no reason that the general public should stand for this. Women should be treated equally to men in today’s American society based on their biological compositions, psychological profiles and contributions to history. The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa... ... middle of paper ... ...s or extremes are usually what stereotypes surrounding the differences in gender are based on. Works Cited Eliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009. Print. Fine, Cordelia. Delusions of Gender. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010. Print. Insel, Paul M. and Walton T. Roth. Connect Core Concepts in Health. 13th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History. New York: Random House, Inc., 2007. Print. United States. Bureau of Labor. Women in the Labor Force: A Databook. Washington: GPO. 2013. PDF file. United States. Howden, Lindsay M. and Julie A. Meyer. Age and Sex Composition:2010. Washington: GPO, 2011. PDF file. United States. National Equal Pay Taskforce. Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future. Washington: GPO, 2013. PDF file.

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