Oprah Knows Giving Women $10k in a Roll of Toilet Paper Wont Change the Pay Gap She Did It Anyway

Oprah Knows Giving Women $10k in a Roll of Toilet Paper Wont Change the Pay Gap She Did It Anyway For decades, Oprahs candid stories about discrimination in the entertainment industry have made headlines. Beyond the barriers she has overcome, what has always captured our attention about zu sich accounts are the actions she took to make the workdistributions-mix a better place for herself and for others. Her interview with Vanity Fair about how she provided equal pay to the employees of The Oprah Winfrey Show is no different Oprah put herself (and her money) on the line for equality. And she did it in a way that evokes a heist movie.The American icon told Vanity Fair that when Oprah went national, the management at WLS-TV, an ABC-owned station in Chicago, refused to give women on the team a pay increase. She says that when she raised issue with this inequality, she was told that despite their show changing, her employees were a bunch of girls in the same room, with the same desks, a nd the same office, on the same street. So, it was assumed they didnt need a raise.Oprah was furious, and took matters into her own hands. Or, erm, toilet paper rolls. I had a big dinner, and my idea of being creative was to have $10,000 rolled up in toilet paper rolls at the dinner as gifts, because I couldnt get management to pay them, she told Vanity Fair.While I would love to call Oprah a boss then get on my way, shes the first to admit that individual actions like this that correct poor policy decisions arent sustainable, and they cant affect the kind of change that is necessary to ensure equality for all. Its like celebrating teachers pooling together PTO to give their colleagues a maternity leave, or talking about how moving it is that people have to crowd raise the money for their life-saving medical treatment. These types of inspirational stories shouldnt be necessary. They are short-term solutions based on labor and resources of individuals who shouldnt be tasked with the responsibility. And while solutions like this may work for some the people we hear about they cant work as widely as actual, structural change.Thats why Oprah took action to change the structure of the company, too. In the most famous part of this story, the star went to management and told them shed walk if her employees werent being paid equally. Oprah was on for 25 seasons, so Im guessing management gave her crew that raise. Collective action that results in the best possible outcome for all parties? Now thats boss.