In response to International Women’s Day, the following subject can’t be avoided: the gender wage gap. Even though Belgium is one of the better students in the classroom, the gender pay gap between women and men still remains quite large in many sectors. With the rise of social media, the question arises whether this is also the case in the influencer world. Do male influencers have a financial benefit in comparison to their female colleagues? We asked our boss ladies what their thoughts were on this matter and the opinions were rather divided.
Yentl Keuppens – succesful influencer and fashion & lifestyle blogger
Yentl started blogging 8 years ago as a project in her last year of Journalism. Thank god for that intense thesis, right?! When we asked Yentl the same question, she agreed with Amylia and also thought there was no difference between herself and her male colleagues.
“No, I don’t think men are paid more than women in our industry. I don’t really pay much attention to it. I wish everyone in the business the best of luck. I don’t discriminate between men and women. Everybody who’s doing well, works hard for it. People often underestimate this job and think it’s just about taking some pictures. But, truth to be told, it’s a bit like your life work. And then everyone deserves a reasonable fee.”
Miette Dierckx – business owner
Most of you will know her as an influencer from her participation in the program “Mijn Pop-Up Restaurant”, but in the meantime she has built her own little empire with Manana Manana. She’s leading her business in an extremely woman-friendly way, which we can only encourage of course!
“I’m my own boss, so I have no idea about those budgets. The funny thing is that my whole team consists of women. Except for Willem of course… So we’re a total woman-friendly company. Besides that, I do think that if I was a man, I would be more severe and I could think more in financial terms. I’m a woman with a lot of emotions and I want my staff to have a good time and feel comfortable at work.. That’s very good for my staff, but not so good for my wallet.”
Pauline Grossen – online content and video creator
Pauline, on the other hand, addressed the lack of rules in the influencer world, which makes it hard to say whether or not there’s a pay gap between men and women.
“There’s no standard fee and everyone just randomly puts a number on it. There are no real ‘rules’ or minimum amounts to follow. But compared to other countries I do notice that we, Belgian content creators in general, are paid less. And that’s a pity of course.”
Lotte Feyen – multi-talented creative
Her opinion was loud and clear: payments should be based on what both men and women have to offer, gender shouldn’t play a role in that.
“I have read some articles in the past that claim that this is indeed the case. Pretty unfortunate, isn’t it? Shouldn’t everyone get paid based on what they have to offer, story views, engagement and so on? I can’t see why a bigger fee would be given based on someone’s gender.”
It’s fair to say that fees shouldn’t be influenced by someone’s gender. Statistics and experience should be the most important factors, both for women and men. In the end it’s all about celebrating each other’s successes and learning how to draw inspiration out of one another.
Check out our previous article about these powerwomen and their empires!
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