Freda

The revolution continues. Who is ready to join the fight?

— Joan Kirner - first female Premier of Victoria, Australia - 1990 - 1992

We put the homemade co-sleeper in our bedroom today and I’m really happy with the result. Dad thinks it has a slightly Nordic vibe about it and I can kinda see that! This whole thing feels a lot more real now.

– Layne Redmond

So if Serena Williams can almost die after giving birth because nobody was listening to her, what do you think happens when the average Black woman says “something’s not right here” and requests help?

Erica Garner was dealing with stress from her father’s tragic death. Erica Garner had a sudden heart attack. Erica Garner had to deal with the NYPD following her around. Erica Garner had to see the hundreds of racist Internet comments that said her father deserved to die. Erica Garner had to read about the derogatory terms her family was called by racists. Erica Garner had to watch pro-police rallies mock her father’s death. Erica Garner had to witness her father’s killer get away with murder, and keep his job. Erica Garner continued to advocate against police brutality and for black lives. This beautifully ethereal soul has given so much to her community. She could have easily given up after her father’s murder, but instead she organized in New York City to fight against police brutality. She called out major politicians for not doing enough about her father’s death, and the thousands of other black lives that were taken by the hands of murderous police officers. She was a badass. But the stress is a killer. Dealing with racism is a killer. RIP Erica Garner. She didn’t deserve this.

I mean…I’d be concerned too

That sounds like a truism, but the academic work behind it helps explain the pay gap’s persistence even as the factors long thought to cause it have disappeared. Women, for example, are now better educated than men, have nearly as much work experience and are equally likely to pursue many high-paying careers. No longer can the gap be dismissed with pat observations that women outnumber men in lower-paying jobs like teaching and social work.

The same thing happened when women in large numbers became designers (wages fell 34 percentage points), housekeepers (wages fell 21 percentage points) and biologists (wages fell 18 percentage points). The reverse was true when a job attracted more men. Computer programming, for instance, used to be a relatively menial role done by women. But when male programmers began to outnumber female ones, the job began paying more and gained prestige.

That’s it!