How to End the Gender Wage Gap

After women fought for and were allowed an opportunity to join the workforce alongside men, another issue came to the forefront. That issue being a gender wage gap. Women noticeably get paid only 77 percent of what men get paid for doing the same exact job. A plethora of steps need to be taken and enforced before the workforce as a whole takes action towards an equal gender wage.
Pay equity is not something women have been totally deprived of. What women have received under the means of "equity" are slim to none and compared to the possibilities, it is not at all acceptable. Women are constantly fighting for equality as opposed to men because unlike the men, the women are put into and presented unfortunate situations.
"Pink collar jobs" are what women are subjected to in the workforce. That very same subjection is what affects and deducts their pay. While it is overpoweringly domestic and of service, women who work in the service industry are paid very little by men who believe they should be performing the tasks of their said "job" for free in the comfort of their own home.
There are many loopholes in consideration of how women are paid. Especially the "Motherhood Penalty" which literally means that a woman's pay can be cut simply because she is a mother to a child. Being penalized for a natural occurrence that typically can't be controlled once the deed is done is unethical. Most policies and penalties that are amongst the workforce are irrational.
There has been some progress with pay equity which is better than none. Women will keep fighting until they see results of what they want though. Through the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and more recently from the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 the progress is staying in progression because the pay equity has begun varying by location. In some cases industries amongst the workforce have begun complying with the idea of equality of pay. For instance, women who work in construction are close to equity of pay.
Not only is the workplace for women outside of pink collar jobs sexist but it is discriminatory, lacks women friendly policies and are stereotypical. Meaning that before they are given an opportunity to prove themselves as an equal, they are thrown into a generalization. Women can adapt skill just as well and quickly as of a man of her equal but instead they are expected to not perform at a man's potential.
Having an education and experience is not enough to be taken seriously as a woman on the job. No matter how many degrees you have or how long you have been in the same area of work, your pay can still get docked. The only real way women can beat this horrible truth is to be as persistent and determined as we have proved to be in the past. Much like the time when they fought for a right to even be allowed a chance to work for pay.

Aside from the options we as people have to take action toward closing the gender wage gap, there is much more work to be done on a national level. Current President Obama is committed to achieving equal pay for women. While the Administration has taken critical steps to ensure that equal pay is granted to women and plans to build further on these ideas to help women achieve just that.
Women have every opportunity to stand behind and support Obama in his attempts to give them what they want. In fact the very first bill President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Although the Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked by just two votes in the Senate, after it had already passed the House, there is still hope and pay equity can be achieved in the near future. Along with the Equal Pay Task Force that consists of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor and the Office of Personnel Management we can identify specific challenges preventing women from receiving equal pay for equal work and enforce it.

"The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2015)." AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
Antiquated, It May Sound. "78 Cents on the Dollar: The Facts about the Gender Wage Gap." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.
"On Equal Pay Day, Key Facts about the Gender Pay Gap." Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., 12 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.