Thursday, March 31, 2016

U.S. Women's National Soccer Team's Fight For Equal Pay




Five members of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team- Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo- have filed a complaint about the pay gap between the male soccer players and female soccer players. They are requesting to be paid the same amount as players on the Men's National Team. According to their counts, they make 40% of what their male counterparts make. If this is true, which according to the numbers it seems to be, it is not okay.
The women on the US team believe that they have proven their worth and deserve to be compensated for their work. The female team has won three World Cup Titles since 1999, while the men’s team has not won any. Last year they only made $2 million dollars for winning the World Cup, compared to the men’s team who made $9 million for coming in 16th in 2014! According to an UsMagazine.com article, “Their lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, added to Lauer on Thursday, "These women are very disappointed in U.S. soccer. When they asked for the same treatment as the men, they were told it was irrational. Now, that might be a good answer in 1816. It's not an acceptable answer in 2016."”
This response calls into question the treatment of the female players and shows how little they are valued. The women are clearly being discriminated against, but why? Is it because they are women? They are playing the same sport, doing the same things, and are arguably doing better than the men’s team… so what’s with this pay gap? I’m rooting for these women and hope that they finally get justice for this sexism.

No comments:

Post a Comment