What Do Beyoncé And Serena Williams Think About The Gender Pay Gap?
Celebrities are taking a stand on the gender pay gap, which continues to plague American women -- who earn just 79 cents for every dollar a man makes.
According to the American Progress Organization, the gap most severely affects women of color; African-American women and Hispanic women holding full-time employment year-round earned just 55 cents and 60 cents, respectively, for every dollar men makes.
So what are celebrities of color saying about this? Let’s take a look:
A GQ profile of Beyonce reports that the star has said that “equality is a myth, and for some reason, everyone accepts the fact that women don’t make as much money as men do. I don’t understand that. Why do we have to take a backseat?"
Viola Davis has also taken a stand on the issue. She told Mashable, “I believe in equal pay, first of all. I’m sorry, if a woman does the same job as a man, she should be paid the same amount of money. She just should. That’s just the way the world should work. What are you telling your daughter when she grows up? ‘You've got to just understand that you’re a girl. You have a vagina, so that’s not as valuable.’ What are you telling her?”
Salma Hayek agrees. At a Power of Women luncheon hosted by Variety, she made a speech, in which she said, “If you have the same capacities and you are doing the same job, it is criminal not to [be paid] the same salary.”
At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Kerry Washington made a speech, in which she stated, “Today, there are people trying take away rights that our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers fought for: Our right to vote, our right to choose, affordable quality education, equal pay, access to health care. We the people can’t let that happen.”
Who else has joined in the discussion? Serena Williams. According to CNN, in an open letter published in Porter magazine's "Incredible Women of 2016" issue, Williams wrote, “when the subject of equal pay comes up, it frustrates me because I know firsthand that I, like you, have done the same work and made the same sacrifices as our male counterparts. I would never want my daughter to be paid less than my son for the same work. Nor would you.”
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Justice Sonia Sotomayor shed light on her own experience to contextualize the issue of equal pay. "Without women's groups knocking on doors, I wouldn't have gotten where I am,” she said. “We need women to support each other. We still don't have equal pay.”
Like these celebrities, Fairygodboss is all about facilitating dialogue and transparency on issues like equal pay so that women can figure out if they’re being treated fairly. You can help by contributing to Fairygodboss’ salary database.
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Imann Gad resides in Atlanta, Georgia currently currently working as a Sales Manager at The Wall Street Journal and seeking her MBA at The University of Georgia.
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