“It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America,” said Patricia Arquette.

How is it that in the 21st century, women still earn 78 cents to every dollar a man makes for doing the same job? This seems a bit ridiculous, considering how far women have come in the fight for equality. Based on data ranging from 1960 to 2015, it is estimated that women will finally receive equal pay by 2059. However, since 2001, the wage gap has been moving at a slower pace, and if it continues at this slow rate, the wage gap may not be closed until 2152.

It is important to understand that this 78% wage gap is a national average and depending on which state you are looking at, this percentage can differ. For example, in states such as Louisiana and Wyoming, the wage gap is in the low sixties, and in New York, Florida, and Delaware the wage gap is in the high eighties.

While this unfair wage gap affects all women, it especially affects women of color. Latino and Hispanic women are affected the most, with a wage gap of 54%. This means that these women earn slightly over half of what their male peers earn. Asian American women have the smallest wage gap of 85%. However, even this seemingly-high number is insulting. While it is clearly better to have a wage gap in the eighties, rather than in the fifties, both are demeaning and discriminatory.

Primarily, the wage gap exists because women are not viewed as men’s equals.“We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality,” Beyonce said. “It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only [78] percent of what the average working man makes.”

This problem will not go away until both men and women recognize that there is a major issue at hand. Until then, we will be stuck in this sexist wage gap.