Dear Michelle Bernard:
I applaud you for being a Black woman pundit. There are so few of us doing what you do, so I can respect your gangsta to an extent.
But when I saw your sloppy attempt to disregard the importance of the Lily Ledbetter act–the act that will address equal pay for women–I was absolutely disappointed in you
Doing away with the wage gap would mean also breaking the cycle of women of color being at an even greater disadvantage. Did you know that poor children and people of color have less of a chance of going to college? Did you know that they have a better chance of being denied proper healthcare? did you know any of that?
And with the number of single parent homes where the mother is the only source of income, the wage gap is even more apparent.
That nurse analogy was cute….cute and embarassing. There is already a shortage of nurses, Ms. Bernard, and guess what?
They have to go to school to become nurses.
Refer back to my comments about the achievement gap. and then come back to this section. As long as there is a wage gap, there will be an achievement gap in our school system.
And how dare you imply that being a nurse is a choice and therefore women who choose to be nurses deserve to get paid less than a man doing the same job. One day, my doctor could not see me at the OB/GYN office. I went to an RN and she was amazing. And she is absolutely worth every damn penny she earns–and more.
It is not a mere choice between being a nurse or being a neurosurgeon. Do you know how much damn money a medical degree costs?
But I digress. Ms. Bernard, consider your own position. There are very few women in political media and even fewer Black women political pundits like yourself. Perhaps if you looked in the mirror you’d understand why equal pay and equal rights are so important.
February 1, 2009
elledub08
5 responses to “Michelle Bernard: Lily Ledbetter act meaningless”
Renee
February 2nd, 2009 at 16:33
This is what happens when people become so blinded by their class position that they forget the living circumstances of those of the working/under class.
Lissette
February 2nd, 2009 at 22:09
Poor thing has internalized her sexism. The nurse phenomenon is the same as the teacher phenomenon: the feminization of careers ALWAYS leads to lower wages, and men who decide to enter a feminine career are put on the glass escalator to becoming bigger and better things while the women are left behind. Yes, some women choose to stay home to raise kids, and that leads to a wage gap, but what about those women who don’t decide to have children and there’s still a significant difference in the amount of money they are paid? She neglected to bring this instance up as well, almost as if every woman decides to have kids and then can afford to/decides to stay home with them.
She needs to take a good, hard, long look at society because I don’t really think she’s seeing what’s going on in society, or maybe she should just look at her peers paychecks.
PunditMom
February 3rd, 2009 at 16:24
I was appalled by this exchange and had to wonder — does she really think those things or is she just carrying water for the GOP?
LawBlogger
February 4th, 2009 at 19:15
Michelle’s whole nurse/neurosurgeon argument is just OFF. The Ledbetter law would make it so that female neuros and male neuros get paid based on their work and seniority, not gender. And same would go for male and female nurses. So she’s comparing apples and oranges when saying the law would mean nurses and neurosurgeons would get paid the same. (Altho I agree w/ you–nurses do so much and deserve every penny they make and MORE! They are the heartbeat of the health care system) In the mean time by making her argument that way Michelle perpetuates the exact same gender stereotypes that men use to justify not paying women enough. It’s absurd. It’s like she can’t imagine that there are female doctors, architects, lawyers, etc., out there getting paid less than men doing the SAME work.
She’s president of the “Independent Women’s Forum?” More like indoctrinated women’s forum.
waithira
February 26th, 2009 at 22:27
Thats right..Lissette….Michelle has not only internalized sexism…she has done a greater job internalizing Racism…