Gender Wage Gap:

In honor of International Women’s Day, a Norwegian Financial Trade Union created

an experiment consisting of 3 groups of 2 children, 1 boy and 1 girl. The children

were assigned a job that would result in them receiving a reward once completed.

After finishing the job the children were told to put their hands out to receive their

reward. The girls received half the amount of candy as their male counterpart and

were told that the inequality was due to their gender. This resulted in the boys

splitting their share of candies with the girls because they believed the girls should

be rewarded equally since they did the same job. The video ends with the quote;

“Unequal pay is unacceptable in the eyes of children, why should we accept this as

adults?” This experiment shines light on the hot topic debate, which is known as the

gender wage gap. Studies done by comparing wages earned through all the most

common occupations for men and women have revealed a reoccurring trend;

women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in almost all occupations.

The average woman's unadjusted annual salary has been cited as about 80% of that

of the average male. Wage gap skeptics emphasize that the 20% gap can be due to

women choosing different and lower-paying college majors And that women are

more likely than men to work reduced schedules, often in order to manage unpaid

childrearing and other caregiving work. However, after adjusting for choices made

by male and female workers in college major, occupation, working hours, and

parental leave, multiple studies found that pay rates between males and females
varied by about 6% or, females earning 94 cents to every dollar earned by their

male counterparts. The remaining 6% of the gap has been considered to derive from

gender discrimination and a gender difference in ability and willingness to negotiate

salaries. Despite ages of sufficient evidence, there is still widespread debate

surrounding the existence of the gender pay gap. Although the gender pay gap exists

globally, we’ll focus on the pay gap, as it exists in the United States, and more

specifically, in the entertainment, healthcare, and sports industry.

***

There have been numerous allegations regarding the gender wage gap in the

entertainment industry, but most recently brought to the public eye is the disparity

in compensation between actress Michelle Williams and actor Mark Wahlberg for

the reshooting of the film, “All The Money In The World”. The reshoot was due to the

replacement of actor Kevin spacey because of the sexual assault accusations against

him. After the reshoot, reports leaked out, revealing that Mark Wahlberg was paid

about $1.5 million dollars, while Michelle Williams received around $1,000 dollars.

As that wasn’t surprising enough, Williams was the lead actress with Wahlberg

being a supporting actor. Wahlberg’s agency, WME, added in a separate statement,

"The current conversation is a reminder that those of us in a position of influence

have a responsibility to challenge inequities, including the gender wage gap. It’s

crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are

committed to being part of the solution."

Disney Animation and their films are an essential part of the entertainment industry

and can play a big influence on children. Disney has been accused of portraying the

“proper woman” as domestic, maternal, and silent. For example, in the film The Little

Mermaid, Ursula, the sea witch, threatens to take princess Ariel’s voice. Hesitant,

princess Ariel believes she would be nothing without her voice, but Ursula reassures

her that she will still have her looks, her pretty face, the power of body language,

and that men think girls who gossip are boring anyway. This can instill an ideology

in young girls that beauty is more important than intelligence, and that silence is

encouraged. Women’s choice to be silent can play a contributing factor in the wage

gap by limiting their ability to negotiate earnings and advocate for higher pay.

An example of this “silence” was exposed on November 24, 2014, when a hacker

group leaked confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures, revealing a stark

gender wage gap. The spreadsheet listed that out of 6,000 employees, only 17 were

making $1 million dollars more, and out of that 17, only one was a woman.

Entertainment weekly held a roundtable discussion between actresses Reese

Witherspoon, Elizabeth Banks, Eva Longoria, and Kerry Washington expressing

their thoughts on the salary discrepancies brought to light by the Sony hack.

Witherspoon stated that prior to seeing the spreadsheet, as female actresses they

knew they were getting paid less but chose to never speak on it. This statement

correlates to the Little Mermaid example in that these actresses claim to be victims

to the gender wage gap, yet, chose to be silent. Kerry Washington added, “When we

step up for ourselves, we create opportunity.” That’s exactly what women have done
overtime, created opportunity by getting the Equal Pay act of 1963 passed. This law

enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prohibits sex-based

wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who

perform equal responsibilities under similar working conditions. Unfortunately,

with all the great strides women have made, today, they are making 82 cents for

every dollar a man earns.

***

In the sports industry for example, women have not only performed equal

responsibilities, but outperformed men in some instances only to fall short in the

compensation department, again. Statistics proved this to be true in 2015 when the

women’s U.S. Soccer team won the World Cup. The United States women’s national

team was the most successful team in the history of U.S. Soccer, but their wage

earnings didn’t prove that to be true, as they got paid less than the U.S. men’s soccer

team. The 2015 women’s world cup gathered the largest-ever television audience,

men’s or women’s, for any English-speaking broadcast of any soccer game. Despite

having a bigger audience, outperforming the men’s soccer team, and raking in nearly

$20 million dollars more in revenue for U.S. Soccer, U.S. Soccer refused to

acknowledge the consideration of compensating the women at the same level as the

men.

Another example of the gender wage gap in the sports industry can be found when

comparing NBA players and WNBA players earnings. In the 2017 WNBA season,
The Minnesota Lynx star Sylvia Fowles led the WNBA in field goal percentage,

ranked fifth in points per game, tied for second in rebounding, finished second in

rebounds per game, and received $109,000. Meanwhile Leandro Barbosa, a reserve

bench player for the Phoenix Suns is scheduled to earn $500,000 guaranteed, even

after being cut by the team. The NBA is able to pay higher salaries to its players

because NBA teams generate more revenue than WNBA teams. However, the WNBA

players are not being treated the same as their counterparts when comparing their

wage percentage earned by league revenue. According to Forbes, the NBA pays its

players around fifty percent of the league revenue whereas WNBA players earn less

than twenty-five percent. In 2017, the WNBA earned at least $51.5 million dollars. If

the WNBA paid its players 50% of its revenue, the average player would take home

about $164,000 compared to $75,000. The WNBA continues to grow by increasing

its attendance and league revenue from television broadcasts and other sources.

Unless the players renegotiate with the Continental Basketball Association, the

gender wage gap will likely get larger and larger since there is no mechanism to

ensure that player salaries are linked to this revenue growth. This case of gender

discrimination devalues women’s contributions and abilities — a model embraced

in other pop culture examples.

For example, in the 2006 film She’s The Man, Amanda Bynes plays Viola Hastings, a

skilled soccer player who is left without a team to play for after her school cuts the

girls team. In attempt to join the boys team, she is told she will not be able to

because of the proven scientific fact that girls can’t beat boys since they aren’t as
fast, strong, or as athletic. Out to prove them wrong she disguised herself as her

brother and joins his school team. Her identity eventually unravels and is accepted

by the coach and her team because of her great abilities on the field. Hastings

finishes by scoring the winning goal against the team that initially rejected her,

supporting the claim that anything men can do, women can do better.

Throughout history, men have been recognized as superior to women. The 2007 Gatorade

commercial with Mia Hamm (USA Women’s Soccer) and Michael Jordan (NBA)

countered that statement by supporting the concept that anything men can do women can

do the same or even better. The commercial features both enormously famous athletes

going head to head in an athletic battle of the sexes to the tune of “Anything you can

do I can do better This Gatorades “Is it in You?” advertisement is a reminder that

anyone no matter what gender is able and capable of doing anything they put their

minds to. It reinforces the idea that women can go further and longer in any aspect of

their lives, not just in sports. Unfortunately, women’s average earnings are still lower

than men’s and has been assumed to due to gender stereotypes facilitating sexist behavior

by employers that in turn partially contributes to the persistence of the gender wage gap

***

In pop culture, women have been stereotyped and depicted as being less competent

and less capable. For example, in the 2001 film Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon

who plays Elle Woods is a bubbly sorority girl who upholds the “dumb blonde”
stereotype. This stereotype depicts blonde haired women as more attractive and

less intelligent. In the film, her boyfriend breaks things off with her due to her lack

of intelligence and aspirations. In efforts to get him back she follows him to Harvard

Law. She surprises herself with her capabilities by scoring a 179 of 180 on the Law

School Admission test, getting admitted into Harvard Law School, and eventually

rising to the top of her class. Elle then gives a speech in which she says, “It is with

passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps

into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must

always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in

yourself.”

Gender stereotypes mean that women may be perceived as less competent or can

cause direct discrimination explaining why women may earn less than men for

doing the same job . There are also stereotypes about what kind of work is

appropriate for women, which can hinder women's advancement in some fields

currently dominated by men. During WWI, women took on men’s jobs while they

were deployed in the armed forces only to realize they would earn lower wages and

were still expected to do exactly the same work. Although the wage gap has

developed the disparity is still existent and has been noted in the healthcare field.

***

In the health care industry, it takes on some noteworthy forms, with the wage gap

level differing significantly between specific sectors. Research has shown that female
physicians consistently make less money than their male counterparts when

analyzed data on full-time employees. By age group, the pay gap between older male

and female medical doctors is as high as 37 percent, and 18 percent for younger

medical doctors. Apparently, it even happens to CEOs and fictional doctors in soapy

drama shows. In an episode of the American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy,

Meredith Grey gets promoted after all her hard work but finds out offhand that she

is not getting paid equally. She spends the episode anxiously waiting to approach

her boss in order to ask for the salary she feels she deserves. Eventually, she steams

past the anxiety, negotiates her salary, and get the raise. The message behind the

episode is to empower women to stand up for equality and to not be afraid of

fighting for what you deserve.

Historical data has proven that women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in

almost ever occupation. Wage gap skeptics have blamed women for this disparity

claiming that women don't negotiate their pay, men work harder than women, and

that women "choose" lower-paying Jobs. Unfortunately, jobs that women choose

often end up paying them less due to their gender, not because they profession of

choice was inherently low-paying. Although laws such as The Equal Pay Act have

been put in place, current laws prohibiting wage discrimination need to be

strengthened. History has proven that these laws are incapable of completely

getting rid of America discriminatory pay practices. Women have made major

strides in closing the gender wage gap, but statistical data proves it to still be
existent. Until data can show gender pay equality, the gender pay gap can be

considered as gender discrimination.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5478409/But-did-job-Children-REJECT-
gender-pay-gap.html

EXPERIEMENT CHILDREN

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/michelle-williams-responds-controversy-
pay-gap-mark-wahlberg/story?id=52340134

wahlberg

https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-occupation-2016-race-ethnicity/

median earnings intro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EahcEL_5UrE
litte mermaid

http://ew.com/article/2016/02/03/beyond-beautiful-sony-hack-gender-pay-gap/

reese

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm

equal pay act

http://fortune.com/2017/04/03/equal-pay-day-2017-wage-gap/

pay act

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/best-worst-feminist-movies/

bynes
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-case-for-equal-pay-

in-womens-sports

soccer
https://advsoc2014.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/historical-analysis-anything-you-
can-do-i-can-do-better/

hamm

https://www.thewrap.com/heres-how-greys-anatomy-addresses-social-issues-
that-matter/

grey

https://www.bustle.com/p/nine-frustrating-arguments-about-the-pay-gap-how-to-
debunk-each-one-48864