Posts Tagged ‘ equal rights ’

Guest Post: Pretty Young Professionals

February 11, 2011
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Guest Post: Pretty Young Professionals

The following post was written by Amanda Pouchot, co-founder of Pretty Young Professional. I don’t care what they say about progress: women are still lagging behind.  Although women make up more than half of all college graduates and PhD candidates, they only account for 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs. Today we enter a professional world filled with opportunities that were not available to generations of women before us. It is clear that women are a lasting cornerstone of the workforce, but many of us lack the support we need to succeed. In addition to new opportunities for career advancement, today’s young women also face insurmountable pressures to look perfect, to act perfectly, to do it all.  We have been overscheduled all of our lives; excelling academically, involved in extracurricular activities and developing many necessary leadership skills.  Yet throughout our youth we were fed media that portrayed an image of the ideal woman – and let me tell you, she wasn’t the breadwinner. Faced with this conundrum, young women today are often stuck between the excellence we seek and the societal stereotypes that tell us to play nice and put others’ needs first.  What’s a young professional woman to do? We [...]

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Act Now: Congress Introduces Harmful HR3 Legislation

February 2, 2011
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Act Now: Congress Introduces Harmful HR3 Legislation

No means no if you’re certain members of the GOP and the question is, “Does a woman control her own body?” But if you are a victim of rape, no means absolutely nothing. At least that will be the case if H.R. 3, a bill sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), is passed. H.R. 3, is called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, but it actually seeks to ban abortions in all but a very few instances including when the pregnant female was the subject of an act of “forcible rape.” Most of us blessed with female reproductive organs, and yes, brains, know that all rape is forcible rape. (An exception is Whoopi Goldberg who has her own definition of “rape rape.”) In writing the bill, Rep. Smith and his co-sponsors fail to define  ”forcible rape,” opening the door for a very scary interpretation of the could-be law. And they harm every victim of sexual assault past, present and future by supporting the idea that if there are no cuts and bruises, there is no rape. Speaker John Boehner has made abortion a top priority and has said, “This common-sense legislation reflects the will of the people and deserves the [...]

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2010 Political Review (Slideshow)

December 31, 2010
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Here is a look back at just a few of the political stories we were talking about in 2010. What do you think 2011 will bring?

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Rally for Girl’s Sports

December 8, 2010
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Rally for Girl’s Sports

Last year, our town was considering changing from one high school athletic league to another. I didn’t play any sports in high school and don’t follow any teams (outside of baseball, of course). But when I heard that the league change might cause up to three of the girl’s high school teams to consolidate seasons, dissolve, or  play in less formal and competitive leagues, I got involved. I attended a meeting to discuss the proposed change and I asked the town officials how the move would impact Title IX, which caused several people in town to assume I was a lawyer. But I wasn’t watching out for a potential costly lawsuit. I was watching out for gender parity. Research has shown that girls benefit from playing sports. According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), “Female athletes have higher levels of self-esteem, a lower incidence of depression and a more positive body image than non-athletes. Female athletes are also more likely to participate in traditionally male-dominated occupations, which are typically higher paying. In addition, more than four out of five executive businesswomen played sports growing up, and the vast majority reported that the lessons they learned on the playing field [...]

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Language Matters

November 15, 2010
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Language Matters

Tonight our town meeting voted on whether or not to increase the “supplemental annual allowance …  to widows of disabled public employees, pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 32, Section 10.” When I read the article in the reports and recommendations sent to all town meeting members prior to the meeting, I immediately sent a message to the Chair of our Finance Committee. It read, “Article 15 discusses benefits for widows. Is there any reason these benefits aren’t for the “surviving spouse?” I’d like to see the language reflect the current realities of the workforce (there are currently more women than men on the national payroll and two-thirds of all U.S. households have a female breadwinner – partial or full). I look forward to hearing your thoughts.” The Chair’s response was fast and respectful. But the bottom line was, “There’s nothing we can do about it.”  Because we were voting to adopt a state law, we needed to use the state’s language. And, I was told, in practice, gender specific terms are interpreted to mean surviving spouse. I don’t know when the Massachusetts law was originally written. But it was amended in 2010 –the year women surpassed men on the [...]

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Six Ways to Honor Women’s Equality Day

August 26, 2010
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Six Ways to Honor Women’s Equality Day

Today is Women’s Equality Day marking the ninetieth anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. It’s not an easy day to honor. Do we celebrate the tremendous work of the suffragettes who fought long and hard for women? Or do we note the irony of an equality day when women still earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns; bang their heads against a glass ceiling; still do the majority of housework and haven’t reached critical mass in Washington? I say we mark the day by taking action. If we exercise our power as women, we both honor the women who came before us and help advance those who will come after us. Here are six suggestions for celebrating Women’s Equality Day. 1. Vote. The suffragettes fought a long, hard battle in order for women to have the right to vote.  If you aren’t already registered, register to vote today, read up on the issues and cast a ballot in the midterm elections. Women are 51 percent of the population and we do make a difference on election day. 2. Run. Better yet, why not run for office? Ladies, it’s great [...]

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Cheerleading Not a Sport

July 21, 2010
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Cheerleading Not a Sport

A federal judge has determined competitive cheerleading is not a federal sport. The ruling stems from a lawsuit originally filed by Quinnipiac College volleyball players after the school cancelled their sport and added competitive cheerleading. The judge expanded the case as a class action for all female athletes and ruled the college violated Title IX by failing to offer equal opportunity for men and women in its athletic programs. In his ruling, which is available in its entirety at the Quinnipiac Chronicle website, U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill clarified he was not ruling on the athleticism or merit of cheerleading, but rather on if competitive cheering was “a sport that offers genuine athletic participation for women under Title IX.” Several factors, including the fact the NCAA does not recognize competitive cheering as a sport as well as the squad’s recruiting practices and competitive schedule, led to his decision that cheering did not provide female athletes with opportunities equal to what male athletes received.  In fact, he stated the cheering team had been forced to face a “motley assortment of competitors” during the season. Despite the fact the ruling is a blow to those who would like to see competitive cheerleading categorized [...]

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Gender Equality Gets a Much Needed Lift

July 13, 2010
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Gender Equality Gets a Much Needed Lift

A few months ago Sara Blakely, the genius behind Spanx®, introduced a compression undershirt for men and now the male shapewear category is taking off. This is big news for gender equality. Men can buy the Abs Thermal Tank with a band of rubberflex to hold in their gut or the Extreme Collection Enhancer String. Who doesn’t need a little extra support? There’s the Priape Tummy Belt that promises to retain “moist warmth and body heat, so you shed excess water around your middle.” Mmmm, sounds lovely. And no collection would be complete without  the ultimate one piece body trimmer for all over control. What does any of this have to do with equality for the sexes? It’s brilliant really. Men might not walk in our shoes but give them a day in shapewear and how can they not sympathize with the movement? Just imagine if the Paycheck Fairness Act ever actually gets to the Senate floor. While Mr. Senator’s saying, “Promotes lawsuits, blah, blah, blah, exposes corporations,” he starts thinking, “Oh my God my ribs are getting crushed. It’s hot in here. Let’s pass this bill.” Or think of the CEO, so excited he can fit back into his favorite tailored shirt, [...]

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Global Update on Equal Right’s

July 1, 2010
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Global Update on Equal Right’s

The Pew Research Center today released its Global Attitudes Project report, “Gender Equality Universally Embraced, But Inequalities Acknowledged.” The report, done in association with the International Herald Tribune, is based on a survey of 22 nations conducted earlier this year. Overall takeaways from the survey: - There is global support for equal rights, but more changes are needed to erase inequities. The survey asked, “Do you think women should have equal rights with men, or shouldn’t they?” The majority of respondents said yes in every country except Nigeria, where only 45 percent thought so. France and Spain showed the most support for equality with 99 percent of respondents answering yes. Ninety-seven percent of American respondents said yes. Respondents who answered yes were then asked, whether or not their country had made most of the changes needed to give women equal rights or if they needed to make more changes. Most countries believe more changes are needed but a small majority in China, Indonesia, India and Jordan felt most changes had been made. - There is support for women working outside the home, but many feel men deserve priority when jobs are scarce. A majority of respondents in every country surveyed [...]

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What Chris Brogan Wants

May 28, 2010
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What Chris Brogan Wants

How the hell would I know? I’m not Chris Brogan. Pity he didn’t take a similar approach in his recent posts, “Learn What Women Want” and “Women in the Workplace.” Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, while blogging about working women, cited this stat from the Center for Work-Life Policy: while 47 percent of college-educated entry-level corporate professionals are female, women comprise a mere 21% of senior executives, 17% of Congress , and 15% of board directors. And followed it with this comment, “But in my recent effort to learn what women want, I found that not all women want to lead.” Brogan seems to mean well. He writes about the women who do want to lead, “we should be very clear and helpful in making sure that women have the chance/choice to lead.” But he qualifies that statement by suggesting we support the “qualified and capable” women, even while acknowledging not all male leaders possess those qualtities. He writes, “so maybe that’s not even a consideration we should have.” Maybe. Speaking of maybe, Brogan wonders if maybe the data reflects a “need for improvement” or maybe it reflects the fact some women aren’t climbing the ladder to success. [...]

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