A Day Without Women: International Women's Day

So today is International Women’s Day. In celebration, each year the UN selects a theme for the day. This year’s theme as part of the Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50”50 by 2030. The hashtag this year is #BeBoldforChange.

Some people may ask why this is a necessary topic of conversation. With the technological advances and globalization, women have more opportunities for those with the ability to access them. Juxtaposed with this additional level of opportunity, women also face income inequality, informality of labor, and humanitarian crises. Currently only about 50% of working age women are represented in the workforce. This is 26% less than men. In addition to this inequality in representation within the workforce, the majority of women are employed in domestic work and subsidizing care, which is often concentrated in low-pay, low-skill work with little or no social protection. 

One of the keys to this goal is access to education. While we have a public education option, many girls around the world do not have adequate access to education. Sometimes these restrictions are cultural related to socialized gender roles, and sometimes it is simply because it is inaccessible due to poverty. As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” If we want to make the lives of women better, we first need to ensure that they all have access to educate themselves. We all know the story of Malala Yousafzai, the young girl shot in the head by the Taliban for just attempting to go to school. Sadly, her story is not an isolated incident. Far too many girls are denied their right to receive an education. 

Then we can begin to look at the treatment of women in the workplace. Of the industrialized nations, the US is the only country to not have paid maternity leave. Additionally, when looking at the issue of maternity leave worldwide, only 63% of countries comply with the minimum standard of 14 weeks of paid leave set out by the International Labour Organization. Then there is the issue that, of the countries that do have paid maternity leave laws, only an estimated 28% of women eligible can actually use the paid maternity leave. 

This brings me to another issue for women in dealing with the wage gap. The Sony hack a couple years back brought some of this to the forefront in the entertainment industry, but this is a problem nearly across the board. On a global scale, women make 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes. This becomes more problematic in some areas of the world as women with children make even less than women without. In sub-Saharan Africa, women with children make 31% less than men while women without children make 4% less.  

So what can we do? As part of this focus on the role of women in the workplace, there is also a nationwide protest called “A Day Without Women” to highlight the important role women play in the workplace. If you can’t take the day off of work for various reasons, you can wear red and support women owned businesses tomorrow. The thing to remember is that, while one day is a good start, we need to keep talking about these issues and fighting the good fight. We have opportunities here in the US that many women and girls do not have. We can’t waste our opportunities.

Source: UNWomen.org (2017). International Women’s Day. Retrieved from http://www.unwomen.org/en/in-focus/international-womens-day

On Wednesdays, We Wear White: The Women's Suffrage Movement and Why It Still Matters

Yes, I know I'm paraphrasing Mean Girls but bear with me. When we think of the color white, a few things come to mind: surrender, not to wear it after Labor Day, and snow. We don’t often think of white as the color of a powerful movement in women’s history: the movement towards voting rights for women. I think sometimes we take for granted that women can vote and participate in governments around the world. There is still a battle to be won for all women in all countries, but we do have it better here in the US than in some places. However, that doesn’t mean that we should forget those who fought so that we have the rights we have, rest on our laurels and accept the status quo, or stay silent when the rights and freedoms of any group are threatened. 

The suffrage movement has a complicated history. In the earliest history of the women’s suffrage movement, it had close ties to the abolitionist movement. In 1848, a gathering of women and men at Seneca Falls, NY, was held to discuss the social, religious, and civil condition and rights of women. Those gathered included prominent abolitionists like Frederick Douglass as well as pioneers in the women’s rights movement Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Cady Stanton wrote a Declaration of Sentiments. It was patterned after the Declaration of Independence and included a list of grievances regarding the rights of women. These included the right to vote as well as issues with property rights, divorce rights, education, double standards in social/moral codes of behaviors, etc. The inclusion of a resolution about the rights of women to vote was the only piece to not be approved unanimously by the convention. In fact, had it not been for the support of Frederick Douglass for its inclusion, it might not have been included at all.

The advent of the Civil War moved the women’s suffrage movement to the background. It is at the conclusion of the Civil War with the ratification of the 14^th and 15^th Amendments that the history of the suffrage movement becomes complicated. There were those within the movement that saw the ratification of the 15^th Amendment as the perfect opportunity to include the right of women to vote. Its exclusion led to some members of the suffrage movement to withdraw support for the 15^th Amendment, giving African-American males the right to vote. This difference led to two distinct factions within the movement.

    

Universal suffrage was not attained until the 19^th Amendment was ratified in 1920. However, the women’s movement did not end with suffrage; it morphed into the pursuit of additional rights for women, a pursuit that continues today. We see this in the discussion of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This amendment has been ratified by 35 out of the 50 states, but still it does not have enough support to become a full-fledged amendment to the Constitution as this requires 38 states to ratify the amendment.

Some women question the need for the ERA given the current status of women in the US. The answer to this is simple. The rights that women currently enjoyed are not entirely guaranteed under the current iteration of the Constitution. In terms of equality, the only right guaranteed to women is the right to vote. Laws such as Title IX are not guaranteed and can be just as easily overturned as they were passed. This is why there is still a need for the passage of laws such as the Equal Pay Act, the Violence Against Women Act, etc. It’s why spousal rape had to be specifically outlawed, which wasn’t done until 1993. However, spousal rape is treated differently from non-spousal, with less severe penalties, shorter periods of time for reporting, or exclusion of incidents where violence was not used. 

This is why it is important for women to march. The freedoms that we enjoy are not guaranteed. Even if they were guaranteed, it doesn’t mean that the system wouldn’t still work against us. We’ve seen this happen to minority communities whose rights have been guaranteed by the 14^th Amendment. It’s why there are movements like Black Lives Matter and the Human Rights Campaign. We can’t ignore inter-sectionality within the women’s movement either. If we’re truly serious about equal rights for all, we need to listen to those who may not have it as good as we do and lend our voices of support to their causes when asked.  

You're Damn Right I'm a Snowflake and That Should Scare Trump's America

I want to make something clear from the start. I am going to speaking in some generalities. I am well aware that not everyone on the right or who identifies as a Republican or conservative feels this way. The same can be said that not every liberal, progressive, Democrat, or person on the left feels this way. This is simply based on observations of the rhetoric I hear coming from the vocal wing of the right.

I saw a post on Facebook that a friend shared, and in the moment, it made sense to me. That led to me sharing the post. The first line of the commentary said: “I am not a liberal snowflake.” At the time, it seemed accurate. The term is thrown around to diminish and insult the left. However, as I considered the idea more carefully, thinking back on a sign I had seen from the Women’s March protest immediately following Trump’s inauguration, I came upon another realization.

First, let’s examine why liberals are often called “snowflakes.” Usually the rhetoric that you hear is that liberals all see themselves as little unique entities that ultimately melt when a little heat is applied and things don’t go their way. It is used to imply that, because of their uniqueness, young liberals think that they should be treated as special and given special privileges. This term is meant to denigrate and shame.

However, that’s bullshit, not complete bullshit but bullshit all the same. As the metaphor goes, the left does tend to revel in their own uniqueness as well as the uniqueness of others. We recognize that our experiences are not the same as yours. But that’s really as far as the metaphor goes in terms of accuracy.

As a resident of the Midwest, I am keenly aware of how snow works. Yes, if you apply a little heat to a single snowflake, it will immediately melt. I’m not denying the laws of the natural world here. But this is where the metaphor gets tricky for the right. If you gather snowflakes together, the amount of heat that you need to apply to melt the snow increases. Think about the end of the winter as it begins to turn to spring. It takes more than one day of above freezing temperatures to melt the accumulated snow. Some may melt on the first day, but it doesn’t all disappear overnight.

Also, as anyone can attest whose been through it, when the snow accumulates with any significance, it can really make things difficult. Travel becomes difficult as roads become treacherous for cars. When you don’t pay enough attention to how you are driving in snowy conditions, it’s really easy to end up in a ditch on the side of the road. Also, anyone who has ever fallen down while walking too fast or even at a normal pace can attest to the dangers of not being cautious when snow is on the ground. Basically, if you don’t respect that you need to adjust your actions to account for the slippery conditions created by the snow, you may end up with some bumps and bruises.

Then there’s just the sheer magnitude of the snowflakes in groups. Think about it. If you are in the mountains and disturb the snow, you’ve got the destructive force of an avalanche to deal with. It can blanket the landscape and trap everything in. Snow is a powerful natural force.

To bring it around to something of the more nerdy variety, let’s look at House Stark in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Unlike the other house of Westeros, the words of House Stark are not a boast but rather an ominous warning: “Winter is coming.” In the North, the Starks understand and respect the power of winter and by extension, snow. Ned Stark also understood that winter brings people together. It's also a key characteristic of their house sigil, the direwolf, a pack animal. As he points out to Arya in the text of A Game of Thrones: “Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa... Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you... and I need both of you, gods help me.”

Winter is harsh and cold. It upends everything around. It kills the old so that the new may come. Without snow, the renewal process cannot begin. It is the winter snow that, when it melts, provides the water to the ground that will allow the spring flowers to grow. Winter also brings everything together. It is the snow that binds humanity together.

So the next time, those of Trump’s America call you a snowflake, don’t take it as an insult. Instead embrace it and say: “You’re damn right I’m a snowflake. And guess what? Winter is Coming.”