The Daily Show with Trevor Noah uses satire to tackle real world problems and expose the realness behind every social issue. In this clip from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Hasan Minhaj interviews three players from the U.S. National Women's Soccer team to discuss why it is important that they are fighting for equal pay. Hasan Minhaj acts out some of the real reactions the players have gotten from the public, such as calling them greedy for wanting to get paid more. In reality though they are more successful than the men's team and believe they should be compensated for that and the hard work they put in. In 2016, when the women filed a lawsuit against the federation, the women one 3 world cups and the men only made it to round 16 of the world cup. They were ranked number one (and still are in 2018) and the men were ranked 30th. The women have also won 3 gold medals and brought in 17 million dollars in profit, while the men have lost 2 million dollars in profit. They also have to play on turf and suffer from injuries, while the men get to play on real grass. After all of this success, the women were only being paid $1300 per game they won, and didn't get paid if they lost a game, while the men were being paid $17,000 per game won and $5,000 per game lost. According to an article on Slate.com, the women's team were only making 40% of what the men were, even though they were more successful. After fighting for equal pay for 2 years, the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team have received new contracts this past April giving them a 30% pay raise. Although this is a step in the right direction, they are still making only 70% of what the men are making.
The information provided in this video clip and the article give a real world example of gender ideology, and the patriarchal society that we are still living in. According to gender ideology and patriarchal society, women are seen as less than and second to men. They are paid less for the same job, as shown in the examples I have provided, and are given less resources. Our society has come a long way and gender roles have begun to change, but there is still more to go. I think that the U.S. National Women's Soccer team fighting for their equal pay will pave the way for other women's teams as well to begin their journey. This soccer team can be the catalyst of future change to come, and hopefully paved the way for true gender equality.