Only 6% of CEOs Are Women, But Thank God We Have Lady Doritos
By Kate Haverston
It’s 2018. Across the nation, women are marching and fighting for the same basic rights our mothers and grandmothers fought to obtain. The Trump Administration is chipping away for equal healthcare access for women and equal rights and equal pay in the workplace. Have we really made any progress?
Yes! We now have our very own lady snack chip designed just for our neat and tidy lady hands and mouths. They’re designed not to crunch or leave a cheesy residue on our fingertips, so we no longer have to fear eating a snack in between rushing to fix the boss some coffee. Who cares if we earn only $.80 or less than what a man earns when we have our own delicious tasty treat specially designed for our delicate, ladylike extremities?
Yeah. Right.
Sad Statistics on Women and Leadership in the Workplace
Women have made some strides — primarily in the educational sector — in the workplace. But despite the fact that women earn 60 percent of both undergraduate and graduate degrees, this hasn’t been reflected in female advancement to positions of leadership.
In fact, only 6 percent of CEOs in America are women. They fare slightly better in the technology sector, where on a list of the 30 highest paid technology CEOs, they comprise 16 percent. Even still, considering that women comprise the majority of the population, even this figure is dismal.
At slightly lower levels of management, the numbers aren’t much better. Only 20 percent of senior managers and executives are female. Even in academia, where women at lower levels generally earn wages comparable to their male peers, there’s a lack of females in leadership roles such as superintendents, principals, and university presidents.
Much has been made of the pay gap in Hollywood as well lately, with actors such as Jennifer Lawrence speaking out about earning far less than their male peers. While there is some hope this may improve with more people speaking out about change, in an industry where celebrities are looked up to as role models, the vast disparity between men and women’s earning power sends a sad message, especially to female youth.
Many deniers of the gender pay gap claim that women are paid less across the board because they demand more flexibility in their work schedules to care for family matters. However, the facts do not bear this out. In fact, most women have less flexibility in their jobs than men do. Because many women work in industries such as customer service and clerical positions, their schedules are largely set in stone, as they are required to be in attendance during certain hours.
Credit Robert Neubecker
And it isn’t that women choose to work in lower-paying industries. Rather, women often take lower paying jobs simply because they need to do so to survive. Because of the lack of advancement opportunities, many women have resumes that don’t fully indicate their potential. And as employers value work history far more than they value educational achievement, women often lag far behind their male peers when applying for top positions.
But We Get Our Own Special Pink Products
Doritos isn’t the first company to offer products presumably tailored especially for women. For years, companies have designed everything from pens to razors, presumably catered to women’s “sensitivities” and tastes.
The problem? These products also come with a higher price tag! What’s been labeled the “pink tax” is alive and well. For example, the exact same razor that a man pays $1.99 for may cost $2.50 or more for women, simply because the female version is pink and the male version is blue.
Even in the service sector, women often end up paying more for the exact same service men receive. For example, in many popular chain hair salons, a woman’s haircut can cost an additional $5 or more for women, even if the amount of work involved in the haircut is the same. A woman with all one length hair who simply needs a trim may find herself paying $20 for the same haircut a man with layered hair gets for $12.
Think about that for a second: Women get paid less than men, but the special products made just for them cost more.
That’s equality?
We Need to Come Together
Enough is enough is enough already. Is it fair that women have to continue the fight for true equality? No. Is it, however, imperative that we do so? Yes. Absolutely.
We need to state loudly and clearly that we don’t want pink prettiness. We don’t want chips that don’t crunch.
We want equal pay for equal work. We want our accomplishments to be recognized and rewarded with promotions when earned. We want opportunities to speak, lead and trail blaze. We want equal benefits that cover all of our healthcare needs.
Chew on that, America.
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