AAUW CORNER/Women’s wages have not caught up

By Gwen Sayian

The Hingham Journal

Thu Apr 10, 2008, 01:34 PM EDT

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Hingham - History. Just the mention of the word is enough to strike… boredom in the heart of schoolchildren. I remember I had three questions after my fourth grade field trip to Paul Revere’s house and the Old State House. Why did they paint everything brown? Who were all those old people with stern faced portraits wearing funny hairdos and clothes? And what does all this old stuff have to do with me anyway?

History, or social studies as it’s now called in school, is hopefully a bit more interesting to children than it was when I was in fourth grade. Certainly the textbooks seem to have improved, or maybe that’s me. Age tends to heighten one’s interest in history, since at some point in adulthood one realizes that our predecessors did know a thing or two after all.

Dr. Margaret Lamberts Bendroth, historian, author, and Executive Director of the Congregational Library in Boston, spoke at an AAUW meeting about the history of woman in the Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century. Unlike my fourth grade history class, I looked forward to attending her presentation, and wasn’t disappointed. My reaction to the portraits hasn’t changed. They are still stern faced people, with funny hairdos that make you appreciate your blow dryer and a good stylist.

I came away with a renewed sense of how far women have come in the last hundred years. Your great grandmother couldn’t vote when she was your age. A woman’s place was in the home. One hundred years ago, women were just getting the right to own property. Previously, property that would now pass to a woman instead became the property of her husband, father, or closest male relative. This left women financially dependent. Today we have a woman candidate for president of the United States.

Socially, women were viewed as morally and religiously superior to men, but not suitable for the rough and tumble business world, and certainly not politics. The temperance movement of mid 1800’s became women’s first rallying cry for social change. Because of women’s’ perceived moral superiority, it was acceptable for women to fight for temperance, though doing so wasn’t easy. Back then, men were paid in cash. On their way home, they walked by multiple, strategically placed saloons. Unfortunately, after a hard week’s work, and a stop or two along the way, many men came home drunk with little left in their pockets. We’ve all seen pictures of those brave bands of women camped out in front of bars, singing and praying for God’s help in the war against the demon rum.

The Civil War and the abolishment of slavery became another and sometimes competing job for newly organized women’s groups. The moral issues of slavery were accepted as part of women’s sphere of concern. Yet this put women’s groups in a clash with organized religion because women’s organizations were becoming more controversial as they moved from issues of morality to human rights. It also made the leaders of these groups even more aware that if they were going to have a say in policy decisions and law, they were going to need representation in the government.

After the Civil War, suffrage for women became their main thrust. Then World War I put a temporary halt to the movement as women joined the work force, taking the places of men directly involved in the conflict. With the end of the war in 1918, suffragists as they were known then, actively marched and protested for the national right of women to vote. Many were arrested and jailed. And just to remind us all, the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote wasn’t passed until 1920. It’s less than 100 years since women in this country finally earned the right to national representation in our government.

Now most of us think the work of feminism is pretty much over. However, you may be as surprised as I was to learn how big an issue equal pay still is. A female high school graduate goes straight to work at $20,000 a year. Over her lifetime, she will make $700,000 less than her male counterpart. A female college graduate starts off with a $30,000 starting salary. Over her career, she will make $1.2 million less than the young man at her side. A young woman graduate in business, medicine or law and begins her first job at $70,000. Over her lifetime she will make $2 million less than her equally qualified male co-worker. Do you know anyone who will be affected, or has been affected by the wage gap? I’m sure you do.

Evelyn Murphy, former Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, now Director of the Wage Project, spoke about this topic at the most recent AAUW meeting. She is the author of “Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men - and What To Do About it”. She is a compelling and persuasive speaker armed with facts derived from national employment data. She says the wage gap is insidious starting out with small differences that grow over time equaling “compound losses”. “This is not men verses women”, states Ms Murphy. “Men are in it with us as husbands, fathers, and uncles.” She points out everyone in a family, male or female, is hurt by the wage gap. It’s an issue of long-term pervasive discrimination. Fifteen years ago the wage gap was twenty-three cents, and it hasn’t budged since. You can find more information at her web site www.wageproject.org, and ways you can become involved.

We may have come a long way in the last hundred years, but we are there yet.

Holders of associate’s or bachelor’s degrees who live in the South Shore towns from Plymouth to Quincy are welcome to join the Hingham Area Branch. To learn more about AAUW, call Patricia McKay at 781-337-3375 or email: hollie@gallivan.org. Visit the branch web site at aauw-ma.org and follow the links to the Hingham Branch.

Gwen Sayian is a Hingham resident and member of AAUW.