Despite some unfortunate pushback,
equal pay for equal work has been—rightfully—receiving quite a bit of attention
so far this year, with shout-outs coming from the stage of the Academy Awards,
the pages of fashion magazines,
and one poignantly funny segment from The Daily Show,
to name just a few sources. Now, comedian Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Clinton,
TODAY’s Natalie Morales and more are stepping up to advocate for fiscal
fairness by sharing their personal experiences with gender inequality on
professional networking site, Levo League, in advance
of this coming Tuesday’s National Equal Pay Day.
"If I tweet
about anything women's rights-related, equal pay or health care or anything
like that, it's that...that gets the most violent hate-tweets back. It's so
odd. It's just bizarre. That and gun control tweets...it creates such a rage in
certain people and of course that comes from fear," Silverman explains,
after sharing an infuriating yet unsurprising story about the time she and
comedian Todd Barry performed back-to-back fifteen minute sets at The New York
Comedy Club for only $10… or so she thought. Turns out Tod was paid $60 for the
exact same gig.
Sarah Silverman
was not afraid to ask the comedy club owner about the pay difference, but unfortunately many don’t share her assertiveness when it
comes to salary negotiations. According to a Levo.com survey of millennial
women, 83% of millennial agreed that it is important to
negotiate their salary and/or benefits
package, but a whopping 63% admitted feeling uncomfortable having that
negotiation.
If
you’re a member of this negotiation-averse majority, Chelsea Clinton, who also makes
some inspiring comments in May’s issue of Elle, has some words of wisdom for you: “I think the worst anyone is going to tell you is ‘no.’ You know, it’s
always better to ask and get a no than to not ask at all. And recognize that
you’re not alone.”
"I’m one of
those people who feels like ‘well, you know, I’ll be rewarded when, you know,
I deserve to be rewarded,’” admits TODAY’s Natalie Morales. “But that said, I
do think it’s really important for women to know their worth and to really push
yourself… It’s about just making sure that people know what you’ve done and
reminding them of your accomplishments because I think so often we like to fly
under the radar a little bit, and as women we need to be able to toot our own
horns."