Women exist in all areas of society — women are democrats, republicans and independents. However, on Tuesday, April 8, differences were set aside as a women’s rights issue was passed by executive order through the hand of President Barack Obama.
The Keene, New Hampshire American Association of University Women (AAUW) President, Dawn Andonellis, commented on this legislation. She said the issue that affects women in society is not a partisan issue that prevented it from following the typical legislative process, but instead, it’s a human rights issue. “Women are every demographic, every party, every color, every state,” Andonellis said.
Andonellis continued with the idea that partisan ties impede progress of the government. “Why are we making our allegiance to a party more important than a particular part of our society, i.e. women?” Andonellis said, “So many things don’t get passed and don’t get done.”
AP Photo:
President Barack Obama gives two thumbs-up as women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter, left, acknowledges him in Washington D.C., Tuesday, April 8, 2014, during an event marking Equal Pay Day
Keene State College first-year student and biology and secondary education major, Madison Rice, said she was under the impression fair pay was established years ago. “I feel like a lot of people think there has been a lot of progressive movement towards women and their salaries. It’s shocking that it has taken this long,” Rice said. Even after the original fight for equal pay in the 1960s, the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau stated that women working full-time throughout the year earned 77 percent of the salary of men, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity website. The 2013 Census also stated that, even professions that employee primarily female workers; women earn less in their occupation. This leaves women and their families with a wage deficit between 700,000 to $2 million a year.
According to the National Partnership website in their article, “Pay in New Hampshire, New Hampshire Women and the Wage Gap,” life without a pay gap would provide benefits for women and their families. The article continued and said common concerns like food, mortgage payments and gas would be less of a worry. It also read that women would be able to pay for 92 more weeks of food, seven extra months of mortgage and utility payments and 3,535 more gallons of gas. KSC freshman, Kyle Hastbacka, said when men and women are working the same job, they should receive the same pay.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, guy or girl — if you are doing the same job, maybe even better, you deserve to be paid for how you are doing the job,” Hastbacka said.
Laura Bassett of The Huffington Post reported on the details of Executive Orders in an article titled, “Obama To Sign Executive Orders On Equal Pay.” The article stated the second executive order “will instruct the Department of Labor to develop new regulations that require federal contractors to report wage-related data to the government.” According to the article, this is in hopes it will hold federal contractors more accountable for salary differences based on sex or race. Andonellis explained why she fights for women’s rights and said she has a daughter attending University of New Hampshire.
The fear of graduating to unequal pay that is stated on the AAUW website in the “Graduating to a Pay Gap” explains the reality for women in this day and age.
Andonellis said she believes unequal pay is unfair for women, and people she cares about. “I don’t think that is fair for my daughter…This is, maybe, something I can do to help my kids,” Andonellis said.
According to the website shaheen.senate.gov., Senator, Jeanne Shaheen expressed her support of the Equal Pay Day proclamation. “Pay discrimination is not fair, is not right, and every day that it persists is a day when we do an injustice to hard working American women. Equal Pay Day is a stark reminder that while we have made progress in the last several decades, pay discrimination continues to hurt women, families and the economy,” Shaheen said.
Andonellis said she is optimistic because of recent conversations with the New Hampshire Mayor, Kendall Lane that the City of Keene will support Equal Pay Day.
Anna Glassman can be contacted at aglassman@keene-equinox.com