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
- Pieover 9 yearsHonestly, I don't understand this article that clearly. Does it say that women get paid less? Or does it say that women should get paid more than men? I think all men and women should get paid the same amount of wage.It is only fair that way. We are all people. It's not like men are monkeys and women are normal. Or that women are Lions and men are normal. No.Just no. Women should pay the same amount that men do. Not get a discount because of their gender! Same thing with men. We are all equal.
felicisowlover 9 yearsNot exactly. You see, Ms. Elana's store, Less than 100, ENCOURAGED gender equality. Women are being paid less, even though they are working just as hard as men. Women get a discount because they are paid less. It all depends on how much they are paid every day on average. Take this, for example: Bill Gates is much richer than the richest woman.
- Happyface8over 9 yearsMen and woman are the same. They should be treated the same. GO GIRL!!!!!!!!!
- TripsEchoover 9 yearsWhile a Do Belive in Equal Rights, I am going to be a devils advocate. a Devils advocate is someone who defends something they don't believe in. so I am going to be arguing the opposite of what I think. Please do not take anything personally As I Belive sexism is wrong. Men should get paid more because they are stronger on average. it is not sexist, it is just the way our bodies are made, A while ago most jobs consisted on working a farm. who would be the dominant gender there? Correct, Men. now maybe traces of that exist today, which is why they tend to get paid more. Additionally, they tend to be more persistent, which is not necessarily a good thing. so they try harder to get higher wages. thus resulting in them getting paid more. Please not that I do not Belive in that, As Iam being the Devils Advacate. I Belive in equality be in Nationality religion Gender or any types of backgrounds. thank you!
crystalmoriover 9 yearsCalm down please people! He was just trying to give us an example of what people might argue against this. Considering your opponent's argument is a very important skill. Still, I would like to know what he REALLY thinks, considering he only posted the opposite.- crystalmoriover 9 yearsI've been of the opinion that men have more physical strength in general, but women have more stamina and endurance. This is just the way people start out, and of course we can change it by training hard enough. Men can train for stamina, and women can train for strength, and they might beat someone of the other gender who hasn't trained as much in that area easily!
k4rleeover 9 yearsHonestly, men are not always the strongest or dominant gender. I know you aren't trying to sound sexist, but it really is sounding that way. I like that you're sharing your opinion, but that isn't a fact at all. I don't want to start a fight. Yes, men's bodies are different than women's, but that necessarily doesn't make them stronger. Strength isn't all about who train or can carry the most weight.- crystalmoriover 9 yearsYes, there's also endurance and mental strength.
- felicisowlover 9 yearsThey are also multi-taskers - don't take this the wrong way.. But women can do many things at the same time. Men usually focus at one thing at the same time, which is why (DO NOT SAY THAT MEN ARE ALSO SECRETARIES, I GET THAT THEY ARE) there are a lot of woman "assistants," like secretaries, waitresses, etc. (Yes, there are men waiters. I know.) But those jobs don't pay as well as, let's say, being a CEO.
- felicisowlover 9 yearsThey are the dominant gender? No! This is talking about men and women who do the same job, and men and women work just as hard. So is it fair that women get less money than men? Absolutely not! I'm sorry, but that comment pretty much says that you think men are stronger and therefore, "better" than women. Most jobs aren't even on farms.. and people will take this the wrong way.
meldomeneover 9 yearswomen and men should be paid equally, and pay equally!
ccgirl02655over 9 yearsMen are NOT stronger on average, they are not the dominant gender, so even if you are a devils advocate, just seriously, people are going to take this a completely wrong way.- felicisowlover 9 yearsPeople are going to take this a wrong way.. but he was being a Devil's Advocate, which means he's trying to show what the OPPOSING side might argue. They are not the dominant gender, but men are physically stronger, no offense.
redheadperson22over 9 yearsPhysically, men are stronger...
- SomeoneButNoOneover 9 yearsAs a girl, I beleive that women should be treated equally to men., I was not aware of this before, and we should help this women in her rebellion. YOU GO, ELANA!
- b00k g33k- 1shover 9 yearsWhat?! Haven't we gone over this saying that women can vote too except now we are doing the opposite! Men and women are equal in rights! Men should not have to pay more money!
- meldomeneover 9 yearsbut women don't get paid as much, so i think its fair.
- PrincessMelodySover 9 yearsWell,all I have to say is, you go girl!
- ccgirl02655over 9 yearsYeah!!!!!!
- Bri Lion Heartover 9 yearsThis was very inspiring and I think it was a very good idea
dogbearmooover 9 yearseven my brother agrees that this is wrong
diamondkidover 9 yearsWow!
queen1018over 9 yearsthis article is really inspiring. it is really sad that there is so much gender inequality in the world.
