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SANDY (AP) — A group of teenagers in a Salt Lake City suburb is trying to combat gender inequality one cookie at a time.
Wednesday was the final day of Jordan High School's Gender Equality Bake sale, in which the Young Democrats club charged boys $1 for cookies and girls just 77 cents.
Jordan High School students used the price discrepancy to highlight the statistic that on average, women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The sale was held Tuesday and Wednesday during lunchtime in the school's common area.
Kari Schott, a 16-year-old junior who is president of the Young Democrats, said she wanted to raise awareness "in a way that can touch peoples' lives."
Utah's wage gap is the fourth largest in the nation and not expected to equalize until 2102, she said.
The bake sale idea generated some backlash on the group's social media pages and also got some negative reactions in person, Schott said.
"A lot of people were angry, they would try to get into fights with me," said Schott, who said several students called her sexist.
Schott said she actually appreciated the negative reactions because they started conversations and were an indication that things do need to change.
The bake sale table included fact sheets to help answer questions about why men were being charged more for their dessert.
And the sale also garnered plenty of positive feedback — Schott said some people stopped by to support it after hearing about the group's efforts in the news.
"I'm really proud of my group for what we did," said Schott.
She said the bake sale raised awareness and about $150.
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