By Lori Adelman • @ladelman • 12 years ago

Vintage Batgirl PSA: “It’s no joke, it’s the federal equal pay law!’

48 years ago tomorrow, the Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy to “prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers”. To celebrate, check out this PSA from the 60’s starring Batman (Adam Westunidentified actor), Robin (Burt Ward), and Batgirl (Yvonne Craig). Holy discontent Batman!

The ad is unfortunately still relevant. As President Obama pointed out in his press release from last year, at the time the Act was signed, women were paid 59 cents for every dollar earned by men. But today, 48 years later, pay parity remains far from reality, as women in the United States still only earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, this gap is even wider.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was a good start, but as we all know, there’s much more to be done. You may remember that the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have expanded the scope of the original 1963 law, failed to pass the Senate back in November. According to the Nation, by some estimates women could lose between $500,000 and $1 million over a forty-year career.

Click here to sign a petition for pay equity.

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman started blogging with Feministing in 2008, and now runs partnerships and strategy as a co-Executive Director. She is also the Director of Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, where she promotes meaningful youth engagement in international development efforts, including through running the award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Program. Lori was formerly the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has also worked at the United Nations Foundation on the Secretary-General's flagship Every Woman Every Child initiative, and at the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch. As a leading voice on women’s rights issues, Lori frequently consults, speaks and publishes on feminism, activism and movement-building. A graduate of Harvard University, Lori has been named to The Root 100 list of the most influential African Americans in the United States, and to Forbes Magazine‘s list of the “30 Under 30” successful mediamakers. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

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