Pittsburgh Woman Creates Gender Pay Gap Awareness By Asking Men To Pay More

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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

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296 Comments
  • coolover 8 years
    we all just need to have equal rights
    • Me is(you)over 8 years
      This might not be the right place to put it, but one of the things I don't like about feminism is it's too aggressive. Right now women all over the place are shouting that women are better than men or men or bad guys or ruthless. I don't want a future that pays women better than men. We need to stop this. This strange new feminism is so different from the 'Men and Women are equal' shout, the old way of feminism. And that good old feminism, is the feminism I like.
      • homeover 8 years
        We cannot completely end sexism. Men and Women are just different.
        • tyover 8 years
          I don't get it. I've never seen the pay gap before.
          • eover 8 years
            But what if men told their wives to pay for them?
            • eover 8 years
              Its time to end sexism for both women and men! close the pay gap and close the store!
              • FlintheFeministover 8 years
                I mean I can't believe I have to say this again: THE GENDER PAY GAP IS REAL. Women work 59 days in a year for FREE. They don't get any money for their hard work for 59 days out of a year! As a girl, I'm scared to go out into that kind of society. In the future, I want to be able to take care of myself or my kids on one paycheck. But If I only get 77 cents to every dollar a man gets, FOR THE SAME WORK, I won't be able to do that. Help make the future bright for me. For all of us girls- be a feminist.
              • FlintheFeministover 8 years
                Redheadperson22, you know what is illegal? Stealing. You know what people still do? Steal. Just because the Equal Pay Gap of 1963 says that both genders should be paid the same, doesn't mean everyone does. And the sad thing is, usually a lot of big companies have so much money and so many lawyers, they get away with it. And, as a feminist, that's one of the things I'm fighting against.
                • redheadperson22
                  redheadperson22over 8 years
                  Ok. Let's just say that you're right for a second. Let's say that women are paid less than men for the exact same work, exact same hours, exact same experience, etc. Let's say that their employers get away with it. Now, let me ask you a question. If it's proven that you can pay a completely competent woman less than you would pay a completely competent man for the same work, then why do men have jobs at all? Why don't employers hire solely women? They would make a lot more money. You could say it's because of their own "misogyny", but let's be real. I doubt any sane person who cares anything about money would let their own minor biases get in the way of making money.
                • cavemancan
                  cavemancanover 8 years
                  TOO MUCH READING MY BRAIN HURTS!
                  • Caveman canover 8 years
                    yeah just make girls pay a little less because thats unfair to men!