EVER SINCE the marching suffragettes secured the vote for women, Aretha Franklin demanded some R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and Betty Friedan spurred the radical feminism of the 1970s, the movement for women's rights has seen a steady climb in all sectors - especially in that of the workplace. Unfortunately, the rose-colored glasses of the past few decades just hit the floor and shattered. According to a recently released study commissioned by the General Accounting Office, women in top managerial positions continue to fall behind in earnings compared to their male counterparts. The current salary disparity proves that while women persist in slowly closing the gender gap, much more work is needed to put pressure on the nation to end discrimination fully against women.
The idea of women's rights has percolated throughout America since nearly the founding of the country. In over two centuries of existence, Congress has passed a variety of laws to protect and advance opportunities for the female gender. The 19th Amendment provided the right to vote for women. Title IX of 1972 prohibited discrimination by sex in any education program or activity funded by the federal government.
Relevant to the GAO's study, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 to bring the wages of women up to the level of men's. Over the past several years and as recently as last year, the Fair Pay Act has been introduced several times to extend the work of the 1963 law. With the recently released data, though, it is obvious that these acts are not enough.
The GAO's study entitled "A New Look Through the Glass Ceiling: Where are the Women?" reveals disturbing facts. Despite the economic explosion of the latter half of the last decade, women's pay has failed to increase. In fact, in relation to that of men, their wages decreased. The study examined 10 major industries that employ women. In seven of those, women ended up receiving lower wages in 2000 than they did in 1995. Additionally, half of the industries lacked a proportional relationship between the number of female managers and total women employees ("Wage Gap Widens," The Washington Post, Jan. 23).
Almost all men and women in America will stand up and say that they are in favor of women's rights. The idea currently does not possess the negative connotation that existed during the bra-burning era of the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the women's movement has been tamed down to a level of common complacency - everyone readily will claim to support it in principle, but few besides the National Organization for Women and a core group of passionate others now pursue hard action.
Without a doubt, "A New Look Through the Glass Ceiling" will raise concerns and rightly so. The sponsors of the study, Rep. John D. Dingell (D) and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D), already have expressed their shock at the wide salary discrepancies that have worsened over the past several years. For example, a female communications manager in 1995 made about 86 percent of the wages of that of a man in the same sector. But by 2000, that number was hovering around the 73 percent level.
Other hotly debated women's issues include abortion, maternal leave and sexual harassment. Wage increases also will be thrown into the fray soon. To address these topics sufficiently will require decided social and legislative action, which should include a revived push for the controversial Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA has been introduced in every session of Congress since 1923; it was passed by the body in 1972 but failed to gain enough state support for its ratification. Such a powerful law would serve as an all-encompassing blanket for many women's issues. Both the nation's legislators and citizens must consider the ERA and other bills on the women's agenda.
The wage gap highlighted by the GAO must serve as a catalyst to once again bring women's rights to the forefront of the nation's political agenda. Over the past decade or so, America has become used to the image of the "high-powered businesswoman," and while such well-paid women executives do exist in what used to be the world of the "good ol' boys," the path to full equality has yet to end. This nation's women have come too far in breaking the shackles of discrimination to stop at any time before absolute victory.
(Becky Krystal's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at bkrystal@cavalierdaily.com.)
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