By Charmaine Davis
@davischarmaine
9to5 Atlanta Chapter Director

As I began to draft a blog post on Equal Pay Day the new Rhianna song “ Bitch Better Have My Money” began playing on my Pandora station. Equal Pay Day is the date that symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. I immediately found myself nodding to the Kanye West-produced track and loving the sound of Rhianna’s Bajan accent screaming over the huge beat. By the time the chorus came through my speakers I was beginning to feel guilty for enjoying the song so much.

“Pay me what you owe me// Don’t act like you forgot// Bitch better have my money,” Rhianna chanted repeatedly.

My uneasiness came from knowing that phrase “Bitch better have my money” has historically been associated with glorifying pimp culture. And while anything that even slightly exalts the behavior we associate with pimps is not ideal, admittedly, the song is catchy.

By the onset of the second verse of the song I was thinking – what if we took the chorus of this song and subverted it from what some online bloggers have called female misogyny and turned it into a powerful rallying cry for women to demand equal pay for equal work? What if?
On average, women make 78 cents for every dollar earned by men in this country, and we must come together to help raise awareness of Equal Pay Day.

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Charmaine Davis

I’m asking women across the country — but especially young women under 35, our future leaders — to join me by tweeting and posting to other social media platforms about this cause on Tuesday, April 14 in observance of Equal Pay Day, using hashtag #BetterHaveMyMoney. Be creative, be bold and help shed light on this important subject through your social shares, personal stories, videos and blog posts — just remember the hashtag: #BetterHaveMyMoney.

It is the goal for this phrase to help make women feel bold and confident in demanding equal pay for equal work.

Below are some sample tweets to help you get started:

  • #BetterHaveMyMoney – The new anthem of Equal Pay for Women. Join the movement! 9to5.org/betterhavemymoney Pls RT
  • Turning #betterhavemymoney from motto of pimps to powerful rallying cry of working women 9to5.org/betterhavemymoney
  • For each $1 men earn, white women make $.78, Black women make $.64 Latinas make $.54. #BetterHaveMyMoney
  • April is how far women must work into 2015 to earn what men earned in 2014. #BetterHaveMyMoney
  • Black women make on avg $14,700 less than men. Pay discrimination is real & a real problem. #BetterHaveMyMoney
  • Latinas make on avg $19,200 less than men. Pay discrimination is real & a real problem. #BetterHaveMyMoney

See you online April 14 as we rally around this important issue.