Ask For More

I don’t wake up any morning expecting to give 78%.

Let’s be clear. I am not a morning person. Yet, when I (finally) get out of bed, I strive to give my best effort in whatever task, activity, or meeting I am a part of. So, if women, like myself, give 100%, why is it that in 2015 women in the United States are still paid 78 cents for every $1 men are paid?

This SNAPPY BUZZFEED VIDEO hilariously represents the idea that men and women can do the same exact work and not be paid an equal amount. While it satirically highlights that women should just do 78% of the work if that is what we are being paid, this would obviously not be a legitimate solution. Rather, women need to determine the best paths for decreasing the wage gap.

It’s time we, all of us, asked for more.

The#ASK4MORE campaign was launched by LEVO LEAGUE, in order to encourage women to demand equal pay for equal work. Are you ready to start? Created by #GIRLBOSS & Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, LEANIN.ORG offers some practical insights into how we can intelligently ask for more with this HANDY CHECKLIST.

EQUAL PAY DAY is a day that shouldn’t exist.

It’s not that we shouldn’t be fighting against this unjust reality. Rather, it is frustrating that in our modern society this is still a problem.

“We need to fix this!”

The BUZZFEED VIDEO ends with the female protagonist insisting that there needs to be change. She’s right, and we need to do something now. Because if we don’t, it will take decades for men and women doing comparable work to earn the same salary.

We don’t ask for more without reason.

We ask for more with purpose & confidence.

President Barack Obama eloquently illustrated the gravity of the situation.

“Women with college degrees may earn hundreds of thousands of dollars less over the course of her career than a man at the same educational level, and that’s wrong.”