Women have fought to obtain equal rights to men in the United States for years.

In 2016,
we currently live in an era where women have more rights than ever before in the United States,
but that does not necessarily mean that we have fully succeed yet. There remains a huge
difference in wages amongst men and women. Women earn less money than men for the same
amount of work. This fact is often ignored by the media despite it being one of the obstacles
that we as a society still have yet to overcome.
According to a report by the Joint Economic Committee, the wage gap has remained
about the same since last year. The report found that women working full-time make
approximately $10,800 less a year than men. Despite our attempts to close this wage gap over
the years at this current rate the gap is projected to close in 2059. Wage gaps vary around the
country with gaps being at their lowest at about 10% in Washington, D.C. and at their highest at
35% in Louisiana.
The report found that 40% of this gap could be attributed to discrimination.
Discrimination based on the preconceived notions projected onto us by the media. These
stereotypes help fuel an unconscious bias that has lead to the preconceived notion that men
should be paid more than women. Women have to work harder to get into positions of power to
change this inequality by pursuing higher education. However, the report found women with
master's degrees are likely to earn about $5,000 less than a man with a bachelor's degree.
On average women make 79% of what men made for equal work. This means that
women are paid about one-fourth less than men. Furthermore, this statistic applies mainly to
white women. Women of color at much larger disadvantage in reaching equality. The study
found that women of color were paid about 20% less than white women. African-American
women made 60 cents to a mans dollar and Latin women only 55 cents.
The best way to combat this problem would be to get more women in positions with
power. In Congress, women currently hold 108 seats, 20 in the Senate and 88 in the House of
Representatives. These seats only account for about 20% of the total seats in congress
because of this there is less on an inclination for congress to create legislation in regards to
gender equality in the workplace. In addition, having more women work behind the scenes at
media companies would improve the portrayal of women and help improve the unconscious
bias towards women. Combating this problem also lies with us recognizing our biases and
working towards improving our unconscious view towards the world.