Jack White is the latest celebrity to join the conversation on the gender wage gap.
The 41-year-old singer-songwriter has joined forces with 45 men and women who are part of a new council to study gender wage equality in the Nashville metro area and report their findings back to the city’s Major Megan Barry, who announced the news on Wednesday. A Nashville resident, White has made strides in equality between sexes with his company Third Man Records.
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“All human beings on this planet, and in this society that we live in deserve to be treated the same. They deserve to be treated the same in their social lives, and in their financial and business careers as well,” White said in a statement posted to his Facebook page. “In my life in the arts, I have always considered it unfair when producing a record, for example, that a drummer would be paid less than a singer, simply because that singer had an agent or representative. They are both creating regardless of their instrument or even their experience. They should be paid the same.”
White went on to call the gender wage gap “embarrassing”, saying, “Gender equity is something that should’ve been solved a century ago worldwide, and it is sad that we even need to address it. If the person does the work, the benefits of doing that work, should be equal among all human beings.”
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The lead singer and guitarist of The White Stripes continued, listing off the many strides his company has taken to close the gap. He added, “I am proud to say that since 2013 all employees of my record label have had a minimum wage of $15 an hour, regardless of gender.”
White joins a long list of other celebrities who have been vocal about the issue, including Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Meryl Streep and Patricia Arquette.