Here are links to some of the organizations raising funds for the victims of the deadly tornadoes that hit the southern states:
Alabama Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund
The intersection of feminism and life
Here are links to some of the organizations raising funds for the victims of the deadly tornadoes that hit the southern states:
Alabama Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund
House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood
On Friday, the House of Representatives voted to defund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood provides millions of women with birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving services. Women without access to healthcare, women between jobs, women who need support, comfort and advice, all turn to Planned Parenthood.
When I moved out of my parents house for the first time, 3,000 miles from home, I used Planned Parenthood. I needed medical services and I had not yet found a primary care physician accepting patients. Planned Parenthood helped me as it has helped so many in this country.
Speaker Boehner’s Congress is waging an aggressive attack on women and reproductive health in the name of “life.” But defunding Planned Parenthood is not a pro-life move — it could harm too many. Show your support for Planned Parenthood, let your Senators know women need this resource, and sign this letter to Congress.
And take a moment to watch these courageous Congresswomen. This is why we need more women in Washington.
Mikulski longest-serving women in Senate
Wednesday marked several significant milestones for women in Washington. Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, passed the gavel to Congressman John Boehner, whose Republican party is talking about repealing Pelosi’s signature healthcare bill.
Meanwhile, Maryland Senator Barbara A. Mikulski became the longest-serving woman in U.S. Senate history. Senator Mikulski was first elected to the Senate in 1986. Prior to that she served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Watch Mikulski in action fighting for women and healthcare reform.
And then watch her latest swearing in.
And finally, the number of women in Congress dropped for the first time in 30 years. So Ladies, who’s running for office in 2011?
Happy New Year!
Thank a veteran today. And remember the women serving our country.
More than 220,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan to date according to The Service Women’s Action Network. And more women than ever are serving on the front lines of combat.
Six women have sued Citigroup for gender discrimination just one month after three women sued Goldman Sachs. The Citigroup lawsuit alleges a “boys club” atmosphere at the firm as well as systematic discrimination against women affecting pay and promotions. The suit also accuses the bank of laying off a disproportionate number of women during the recession. There are many similarities in this case to the Goldman Sachs suit which cites corporate outings to strip clubs, biased feedback and blocked advancement opportunities.
Both cases speak to inherent biases in the workplace, especially on Wall Street, an established “boy’s club” for decades. The filings speak more of subtle and systemic discrimination than of blatant, outrageous harassment – although there are a few blatant situations highlighted – an alleged groping incident in the Goldman case, for example. Professional women are probably more likely to face subtle bias today than they are overt, egregious behavior at work. This is a major challenge for both employees and employers. For employees, it is much more difficult to prove that an established, unfair corporate culture – good ole boy networks, lack of access to mentors, drinking outings, outdated performance review processes or male-dominated management teams, for example – affected advancement opportunities and pay, than it is to address an overt situation. And for employers, it is more difficult to change and monitor an entrenched corporate culture than it is to issue a canned sexual harassment policy and training program. And because there are fewer reports of overt incidences of discrimination, it leads to a false sense of security – that women have achieved true parity at work. But American businesses must address the issue. Research has shown a strong correlation between diversity at the top of an organization and bottom-line corporate performance. Creating a fair and equal workplace is not just the right thing to do, it is the financially sound thing to do too.
It is interesting that both Citibank and Goldman Sachs cite the number of women in management positions in defense of their organizations commitment to equality. And both organizations have some excellent programs in place to support women’s advancement. So perhaps the lesson we can all learn from these charges, is the need for critical mass. More research has shown that true change happens in an organization and its perception of women, when women represent at least 33 percent of the leadership. Women’s advancement programs are one way to address this. But if women are dropping out at the lower levels – because of perceived or real discrimination, or perceived or unreal unmanageable family leave policies, than senior-level fixes won’t make a difference.
Ladies, we took an impromptu vacation. We’ll be back Oct. 12.
In publishing Daniel Indiviglio’s article “Why Working Mothers Fall Behind,” The Atlantic once again demonstrates its lack of understanding of women’s experiences. The article is a response to Tuesday’s New York Times piece, titled “A Labor Market Punishing to Mothers.” Indiviglio says of the working women’s plight, “But calling this a problem is analogous to complaining that action movies with flimsy writing are more popular than brilliantly crafted art house films.” He suggests the disparity isn’t necessarily among men and women but among primary professionals and primary caregivers.
He writes, “Would anyone really care if primary caregivers didn’t climb the corporate ladder as quickly as primary professionals if gender weren’t involved? Wouldn’t that just make logical sense? If men more often take on the primary professional role, consequently working more intensely and taking fewer vacations than women, then they should bepromoted more aggressively.” I understand his logic. Those who put in the hours should reap the rewards. But what Indiviglio fails to grasp is that the role of primary caregiver isn’t always a choice.
Sometimes, the boss forces women into that role. Guilty as charged. When I was in my late twenties, I managed a large team of men and women. Our client was in a different state than our office and required on-site service during a critical time. I chose a different staffer to travel with me each week to work in the client’s office. The team viewed these trips as a positive thing – a chance to interact and spend time with the client and the boss. I had cycled through most of my staff when a woman on my team asked me why I hadn’t yet invited her to the client. My response, “I assumed you couldn’t leave your children.” She was the only mother on the account. I cringe every time I recall how I mistreated her. I didn’t make a conscious decision to discriminate against her, but the result was the same.
Sometimes, a spouse puts a woman in that role. According to research from Vanderbilt University, women spend 53 percent more time on housework than men do. Even in marriages where both spouses work full-time, the majority of housework – including childcare, falls to the woman. If husbands and wives took an honest look at their relationships, many of them would see a subtle discrimination that starts in the bedroom and carries over to the boardroom.
And sometimes, our bodies force us to assume the role of primary caregiver. My husband and I have always been clear that I would be the primary professional and he would be the primary caregiver. But he was unable to get pregnant. So even though, he stays home when our children are sick and he makes sure the homework is done, the lunches are made and the soccer registration is completed on time, I still gave birth. And that meant, I missed hours of work to go to doctor’s appointments. And I took 12 weeks of leave because I was recovering from a C-section. And it was my stomach, not his, that expanded so much during pregnancy that a client said to my boss, “I don’t want to work with her. She looks like she should put her feet up and rest.”
Indivglio says, “… there’s also a possibility that most men and women in traditional gender roles are perfectly content with the current arrangement. After all, if they aren’t, then it’s often within their power to live their lives differently.” Sure there is that possibility. And then there is reality. Women are often penalized at work for being parents. And men, for the most part, are not.
Last week we buried my uncle. His send-off was fantastic. More than 1,000 people attended his wake including the governor of the state, his very large family and his beloved former employees. My cousin wrote and delivered a beautiful, moving eulogy at the funeral, the newspaper published an article about him, and the local fire fighters stood at salute when his hearse passed the station.
My uncle was a husband and father, an elected official who served his community for 18 years, a grassroots organizer involved in many campaigns — from the hyper-local to JFK’s presidential bid, and a business owner. After the services, one of my relatives said to me, “Wow, he led a larger-than-life existence. I think I live a smaller-than-life existence.” We both laughed a self-deprecating laugh that is part of our family’s DNA.
But later that night I wondered, what kind of life should we live? Are we wasting space if we live less-than-large lives? I hope not. I like to think the world needs the big, the medium and the small lives. Isn’t it just as good to make a profound impact on one life as it is to touch many lives? That idea gave me comfort until I realized it was based on the clichés found on coffee mugs and cheesy plaques:
It takes all kinds.
Variety is the spice of life.
Never confuse having a career with having a life.
It is better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.
Life is mostly froth and bubble; Two things stand like stone: Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in our own.
So I turned to Google to see If I could find something more helpful and I stumbled upon this charming saying,
Little birdie in the sky, dropped a poopie in my eye, I didn’t scream, I didn’t cry, But I thanked the Lord cows can’t fly!
Well that confirms it, doesn’t it? There is a place in this world for the birds and the cows, for the front page heroes and the everyday ones too. And just as birds can never be cows and cows never birds, we too can only be who we are, big, small or otherwise. Some of us have wings and some of us do not. Some of us will have hundreds of mourners someday and some of us will have only a handful. And that is okay. And realizing that, I recalled and found inspiration in the words of the great Irish bard Oscar Wilde who once said,
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Mr. Wilde would never be caught dead on a mug. (But he is probably rolling over in his grave to be quoted in a blog alongside the cow poop ditty.)
Republicans, Get In My Vagina!
We can do it.
What It's Like to be a #WorkingMom #infographic
Awesome
