Pittsburgh Woman Creates Gender Pay Gap Awareness By Asking Men To Pay More
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
At first sight, Elana Schlenker's pop-up store, Less Than 100, which was open in Pittsburgh during the month of April appeared just like any other gift store. However, when shoppers went to pay, they were in for a surprise. That's because while men paid full price, women received a 24% discount.
Though that may appear to be blatant discrimination, Elana was merely abiding by the store's slogan "pay what you are paid". And since women in Pennsylvania get paid an average of 76 cents for every dollar men earn for the same job, it is only fair that they pay less.
As if the store's pricing policy was not enough to get the message across, Elana also distributed pamphlets. Entitled "What Are Women Worth?", it explained the status of the wage gap both in Pennsylvania and across the country, and also gave women tips on how to better negotiate salaries. A 2015 study conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research found that although the rate of women's income has been rising, men still earn more in every state in the country.
But though paying women lower wages is a shame, forking out the full price at Less Than 100 wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That's because the proceeds of all sales went directly to the local artists that had created the beautiful wares. During its month-long tenure, the shop was visited by hundreds of women who wanted to support her mission and the local artists whose work was being showcased. Some even brought in their kids and grandkids to educate them about the importance of keeping the gender wage debate alive. Elana says that while she received some grief about the "discrimination," most men were extremely gracious and happy to pay the full price.
Not surprisingly, the unusual venture has drawn worldwide attention. This November, Elana will partner with photographer Tammy Mercure and open a Less than 100 pop-up store in New Orleans.She believes starting the debate in Louisiana is important given that the state boasts the nation's widest gender wage disparity. Here, women earn a whopping 34 cents less than their male counterparts. While she has received several requests from California, it may be close to the bottom of her list. That's because the "Golden State" is one of the most progressive when it comes to wage equality and, therefore, does not need much help.
Though the Less than 100 project will not resolve the wage disparity, it is a thought-provoking way to bring to the forefront an issue that is increasingly causing a lot of angst among women. Fortunately, Elana is not the only one trying to change the unfair system. Patricia Arquette made an impassioned plea for gender wage equality in her acceptance speech at the Oscars this February. Ellen Pao the interim CEO of Reddit recently announced that new employees will be forbidden from negotiating salaries. She believes that men are better negotiators than women, and, therefore, tend to receive higher wages!
What's encouraging is that male CEOs are also joining the fight! Earlier this month, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff launched a company-wide program to address the issue. Called "Women Surge" it aims to eliminate all gender-based pay disparities, hire and promote more women and ensure that they are better included in meetings! With all these visionaries taking the lead, it will not be long before gender pay inequality is something we will only read about in history books!
Resources: huffingtonpost.com,lessthan100.org,msnbc.com,abc.go.com
Cite Article
Learn Keywords in this Article
296 Comments
- angiequeen9over 9 yearsI think that men and women should be paid the same
- lillianover 9 years1. Men receive more payment for the same job that women do. 1a. Elena sent out pamphlets. 2. Louisiana 2a. California doesn't need much help. 3. Ellen Pao
- bob1234over 9 yearsi Will nerver go to Pittsburgh now!
felicisowlover 9 years... Pittsburgh is beautiful, you should visit it. Even if you don't support feminism, there are like a bajillion other stores in Pittsburgh that doesn't have the policy that Less Than 100 uses. Umm, I personally think what Elana is doing is right. And I'm pretty shocked that you don't support equal rights. Just because you have to pay more doesn't mean you have to declare you'll never go to Pittsburgh.
vikings28over 9 yearsthat is a creative idea
mmybug21over 9 yearsNICE!!!!- American Creed over 9 yearsIsn't america built on equality and fairness? If you agree say i in the comments
tree300over 9 yearsthat is very smart- 3.141592653/pieover 9 yearscool now i know
- Ariannaover 9 yearsI think we should all be equal. Just saying
redheadperson22over 9 yearsI know I have a VERY unpopular opinion on this, but please don't be rude. I've heard about this before, and frankly, I don't necessarily buy it. First off, start by googling "how real is the gender pay gap" and if you read enough articles, you'll find that it's not all black and white. There are different opinions about it. It's not a cold hard fact. And this article never states WHY women are paid less then men (if they even are). It simply says that they are. There a many different variables that come into play. The article makes it seem like if a man and a woman are both completely equally qualified and do the exact same job with the exact same hours, the woman gets paid less just because she's a woman. That's simply not the case. Also, it's not, in any way, right to charge men more than women just because they're men. You don't know the state of every single man that walks into your store. One man could be unemployed. Another could only have a part-time job at a fast-food place. While a women who walks into the store could be the CEO of a company and make a lot of money. You can't just say that since they're a certain gender they automatically have to pay more. You don't know how much money that particular person makes. I know this is kind of off-topic, but I really feel the need to say it. I do not support feminism. At least not in America. I don't think that people understand that feminism does not equal equality. "A collection of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women." That is the definition of feminism. It's all about women's rights. Women serve less time in jail then men for the same crimes. Does that sound like equality to you? Personally, I think the feminist have done an excellent job in brainwashing our society. People believe what they hear everyone say. Not many people are willing to question it. But a challenge you to question it. Try doing some research. You might be surprised at how many "well known facts" aren't necessarily true.- redheadperson22over 9 yearsAgain, what I said here is my opinion. It just so happens to be a not-so-favored one. I definitely don't mean to offend anyone in anyway. Please don't take this personally :)
- ljordan25over 9 yearsI agree very strongly for if one is unimployed they should not have to pay more than the average person and if one is CEO of a company they still shouldn't have to be paying more. And say that that person is from California why sould they have to be paying a "Whopping" 35 cents more??????????????
mckid100over 9 yearsI agree completly- tree300over 9 yearsElana was smart. Giving women a 14% discount is equal; men get paid more, so they pay full price. But women get paid 24 cents less so they should get a 24% discount. Its just an idea so don't be mean
- felicisowlover 9 yearsShe wasn't being mean. I don't exactly um, support her opinion, but just not agreeing with your opinion or others is definitely not being mean.
- redheadperson22over 9 yearsI definitely wasn't being mean. I'm saying that ALL men don't make more money then ALL women. Different people have different jobs that get them certain amounts of money. A man might have a very low paying job, while a woman might have a very high paying job. It all depends on the person, which is why I strongly disagree with what this lady is doing.
