It’s time to write a new scene for women

When Frances McDormand implored her fellow female nominees to rise in a show of solidarity at the end of Sunday’s Academy Awards, it was as distressing as it was inspiring. For every success story, it was hard to ignore that the nominees were wildly outnumbered by their male counterparts. And that McDormand was essentially reaching out to the men in power to take notice and support their projects.

The walkaway from McDormand’s address was her lesson about “inclusion rider.” The ever-candid McDormand confessed she only learned about the concept in days leading to the award show. The contract clause requires producers to hire a diverse cast and crew and support gender equality.

Movements to ensure gender equality, though, don’t always go according to script. Hollywood is no exception. When it comes to social change, it’s often a matter of “Lights, camera ... no action.”

If all the women in Connecticut earning equal pay were to stand together, they wouldn’t create a crowd either. To mark International Women’s Day Thursday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made his final plea to close the gap in the workplace. It’s an unfortunate annual tradition, and we only wish Malloy’s successor could spend it next March by celebrating changes made in 2018.

Malloy is branding his latest campaign the “Connecticut Fairness Agenda,” which calls for equal pay for equal work, enhancing the state’s earned sick time law, raising the minimum wage, and curtailing sexual harassment.

“Connecticut has a long history of being a leader in the fight for gender equity, and this year, on this International Women’s Day, we are focusing how we are once again at the forefront of this issue,” Malloy said in a statement Thursday. “Taken together, these initiatives will make Connecticut a fairer, more equitable state for all people, and it will make our state a better place to work.”

This has always been a battle won by inches, and dollars. Among the initiative is Senate Bill 15 — An Act Concerning Equal Pay for Equal Work, which seeks to prevent employers from asking job candidates about their salary history. Consider it from the perspective of a female job candidate with a history of being underpaid. The chain is never broken.

It may make sense, but it failed a year ago. Democrats pushing for it were thwarted by employers who raised objections.

Even if progress is made during this session, women have too much ground to gain. Women in the state working full time are paid 82 cents on the dollar paid to men, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. The numbers are far worse for women of color, as that figure sinks to 59 cents for African-American women and 48 cents for Latinas.

Even if all of Malloy’s proposals come to fruition during his final months as governor, it wouldn’t be enough to reach parity in the workplace.

That, alas, would require a Hollywood ending.

Movements to ensure gender equality, though, don’t always go according to script. Hollywood is no exception. When it comes to social change, it’s often a matter of ‘Lights, camera ... no action.’