Standing in a line at the Equity Bake Sale, a boy and a girl both hand over a dollar bill to the bake sale attendant. When waiting for their change back, only the girl receives money in return. Scenarios similar to this have been repeated at Castleton State College for the past 14 years. But seeing as how only the women are getting their change back, one may ask, why does this food cost more for the men?”The concept behind charging men more than women brings attention to the monetary inequalities in the workplace,” said Brittany Wooten, CSC Area Coordinator. “People donate baked goods and members sell the items at a table in Jeffords. We charge men one dollar and women $0.75 based on the statistic that women make about $0.78 to every man’s dollar.”

The Women’s History Committee is responsible for the bake sale that has become a school tradition. There has been some controversy in the past on the reasoning behind it and people seem to miss the fun and most of all the educational piece.

“We have held an Equity Bake Sale as part of Women’s History Month since 1995, which also happened to be the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote,” said Victoria Angis, CSC Assistant Dean for Campus Life.

The rights for women have been around for quite some time now, but that doesn’t stop the school from trying to get us to share our opinions with each other about how far we’ve all come, and how much further we still have to go.

“The committee uses events like this one and a month of other events to start and continue the conversation around different topics such as gender equality,” said Wooten.

Not only is the Equity Bake Sale a great way to show your feelings towards equality, but by attending you have the chance to help other people in need.

“The opportunity to donate the money to the Rutland Women’s Shelter is a great opportunity to outreach as well,” stated Wooten.

However, there has been some controvesy in the past few years regarding the price difference for the men and women. But with the real unfairness that occurs everyday in the working world, this Bake Sale is intended to be used as a fun way to educate people on the inequality people face day to day.

“There have been a few irate individuals over the years, but usually those people just don’t buy anything. For the most part, the Equity Bake Sale has been well received,” said Angis.