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In case you missed it (and chances are, you did), Saturday, March 8, was International Women’s Day. It’s a pity that it was barely acknowledged regionally, much less locally, but perhaps that’s a result of two very different phenomena: resistance by the mainstream of the achievements of the feminist movement and women in general, and paradoxically, the belief that women have nothing left to fight for, that all the goals of that movement have been fulfilled and we can all link hands and sing “Kumbayah,” safe in the knowledge that we now live in a better, more equal world.
As my grandmother would say, “Screw that. Lots of work yet to be done!”
Still, I’m not one to miss an opportunity to reflect on what we HAVE accomplished. Of note:
1. For the first time in the history of the most powerful democracy in the world, a woman has a real shot at occupying the Oval Office in a position other than First Lady. And lucky me, I get to be a witness to it all.
2. Sixteen women currently serve in the U.S. Senate, 78 in the House. And whaddya know, we’re also privileged to be part of the first Congress in which a woman — Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — serves as speaker of the House.
3. Thirteen of the Fortune 500 companies for 2007 are headed by a woman, up from 10 in 2006. Not all the companies are your stereotypical “women’s” companies either; Patricia Woertz heads up food processing giant Archer Daniels Midland, Anne Mulcahy rules the roost at Xerox, and Christina A. Gold holds the reins at Western Union.
4. For the first time in its 62-year history, CARE, one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations, is headed by a woman, and an African-American woman at that. You’ve likely seen their new and very compelling campaign, highlighting the power of women around the world — regardless of their personal and financial circumstances — to improve the lives of their families, communities, countries. I tear up every time I see that commercial.
5. Over half of all college graduates are women, and at many universities, women outnumber men in overwhelming numbers. They also tend to graduate within four or five years at a higher rate than their male counterparts.
6. Half of the Ivy League is now led by women presidents, including Harvard, Princeton, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania.
Of course, not all is hunky-dory. We’ve definitely come a long way, baby, but consider these sobering statistics:
1. The so-called gender pay gap persists, despite gains in the 1980s that led many to believe that a future with equal pay for equal work was just around the corner. Bottom line: For the same job with the same responsibilities, a woman is paid roughly 77 to 90 percent of what a man makes.
2. In the hottest, possibly most influential field of study today — information technology — women students and workers represent a mere fraction of men. Indeed, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, women represent less than a third of the entire IT workforce, despite the fact that half of all IT users are women.
3. Of the 800 million people in the world suffering from hunger, 70 percent of them are women and children.
4. Over half a million domestic violence cases are reported every year. If you count conservative estimates of all assaults by intimates — including those that are unreported — you’re looking at between 2 million and 4 million annually.
5. Over 100,000 women report being sexually assaulted every year. Estimates are that two to six times that number are raped but do not report it.
6. Despite our so-called support for women’s rights and our alleged commitment to “family values” (remember that buzz phrase?), we still have yet to implement any kind of socially sponsored day care program that’s both affordable and accessible to all families, regardless of income.
7. Closer to home: Women represent a tiny, tiny percentage of talking heads and newspaper columnists. The New York Times — arguably the most influential newspaper in the world — has only two women columnists among 10. The local Sentinel reserves nearly all of its political and other “hard news” columns for its men. And — ahem — women aren’t exactly taking over the Free Press op-ed pages either. (C’mon, ladies, speak up! Don’t let the guys do all the talking for ya.)
Yeah, we’ve come a long way, but we also have an even longer way to go. International Women’s Day is a day for celebration and reflection, not an excuse to rest on our laurels. For more information on IWD and what you as an individual can do, visit www.internationalwomensday.com or www.care.org.
<i>Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer is a freelance writer living in Grand Junction. Reach her at marjorie.asturias@gmail.com.</i>
As my grandmother would say, “Screw that. Lots of work yet to be done!”
Still, I’m not one to miss an opportunity to reflect on what we HAVE accomplished. Of note:
1. For the first time in the history of the most powerful democracy in the world, a woman has a real shot at occupying the Oval Office in a position other than First Lady. And lucky me, I get to be a witness to it all.
2. Sixteen women currently serve in the U.S. Senate, 78 in the House. And whaddya know, we’re also privileged to be part of the first Congress in which a woman — Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. — serves as speaker of the House.
3. Thirteen of the Fortune 500 companies for 2007 are headed by a woman, up from 10 in 2006. Not all the companies are your stereotypical “women’s” companies either; Patricia Woertz heads up food processing giant Archer Daniels Midland, Anne Mulcahy rules the roost at Xerox, and Christina A. Gold holds the reins at Western Union.
4. For the first time in its 62-year history, CARE, one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations, is headed by a woman, and an African-American woman at that. You’ve likely seen their new and very compelling campaign, highlighting the power of women around the world — regardless of their personal and financial circumstances — to improve the lives of their families, communities, countries. I tear up every time I see that commercial.
5. Over half of all college graduates are women, and at many universities, women outnumber men in overwhelming numbers. They also tend to graduate within four or five years at a higher rate than their male counterparts.
6. Half of the Ivy League is now led by women presidents, including Harvard, Princeton, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania.
Of course, not all is hunky-dory. We’ve definitely come a long way, baby, but consider these sobering statistics:
1. The so-called gender pay gap persists, despite gains in the 1980s that led many to believe that a future with equal pay for equal work was just around the corner. Bottom line: For the same job with the same responsibilities, a woman is paid roughly 77 to 90 percent of what a man makes.
2. In the hottest, possibly most influential field of study today — information technology — women students and workers represent a mere fraction of men. Indeed, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, women represent less than a third of the entire IT workforce, despite the fact that half of all IT users are women.
3. Of the 800 million people in the world suffering from hunger, 70 percent of them are women and children.
4. Over half a million domestic violence cases are reported every year. If you count conservative estimates of all assaults by intimates — including those that are unreported — you’re looking at between 2 million and 4 million annually.
5. Over 100,000 women report being sexually assaulted every year. Estimates are that two to six times that number are raped but do not report it.
6. Despite our so-called support for women’s rights and our alleged commitment to “family values” (remember that buzz phrase?), we still have yet to implement any kind of socially sponsored day care program that’s both affordable and accessible to all families, regardless of income.
7. Closer to home: Women represent a tiny, tiny percentage of talking heads and newspaper columnists. The New York Times — arguably the most influential newspaper in the world — has only two women columnists among 10. The local Sentinel reserves nearly all of its political and other “hard news” columns for its men. And — ahem — women aren’t exactly taking over the Free Press op-ed pages either. (C’mon, ladies, speak up! Don’t let the guys do all the talking for ya.)
Yeah, we’ve come a long way, but we also have an even longer way to go. International Women’s Day is a day for celebration and reflection, not an excuse to rest on our laurels. For more information on IWD and what you as an individual can do, visit www.internationalwomensday.com or www.care.org.
<i>Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer is a freelance writer living in Grand Junction. Reach her at marjorie.asturias@gmail.com.</i>
