Posts Tagged ‘ women’s equality ’

Women, We Need to Vote

November 1, 2010
By
Women, We Need to Vote

Ladies, I get the complacency. I do. I am mostly uninspired by my choices on the ballot. But I will vote. And I hope you do too. Vote because your grandmothers and great grandmothers could not. Women have only been allowed to vote in this country for 90 years. So I will exercise my right in honor of Nana. Vote for hope. Brazil just elected its first woman president and someday we will too? and someday we will too. Vote because you’re not giving up. Vote because you’re tired of others defining the “woman’s vote.” You can tell them how you feel, thank you. Vote because we are not going to allow sexist campaign tactics to sway our votes. Vote because women are losing ground in Washington and we are not okay with that. We are going for critical mass. Just vote. And next time around, why not run?

Read more »

Six Ways to Honor Women’s Equality Day

August 26, 2010
By
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 [...]

Read more »

Dear Mr. President

July 29, 2010
By
Dear Mr. President

  Dear Mr. President: I just watched your appearance on “The View.” I had never watched the show before; I’d only seen clips on YouTube of  Whoopi Goldberg saying what Roman Polanski did wasn’t “rape rape” and then defending Mel Gibson, because after all what he’s accused of doing isn’t really “abuse abuse.” The show wasn’t bad and I appreciate the accessibility you offer the media. But Mr. President, here’s the thing: just because I am a woman, just because I am a mom, even though I voted for you and am happy to have you in the White House, you will not win me over by going on daytime television. You could appear on “Real Housewives of New York” or guest star on “Glee” and I wouldn’t care. No, Mr. President – this woman – this American, voting, blogging, mother wants to hear more than standard sound bites interspersed with tales of your family vacation and thoughts on Lindsey Lohan and Justin Bieber spouted from a studio sofa. If you are trying to appeal to women, than why not address questions about women’s issue? Questions like: When will we see some progress with the Fair Pay Act? The Lilly [...]

Read more »

Cheerleading Not a Sport

July 21, 2010
By
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 [...]

Read more »

Gender Equality Gets a Much Needed Lift

July 13, 2010
By
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, [...]

Read more »

Six Things We Need to Do to Send a Woman to the White House

July 9, 2010
By

Last week I posted a question at SkinnyScoop: Do you think a woman will be elected president in your lifetime? Most of the respondents (81 percent) said yes. No one answered definitely not. I sure hope the respondents are right, but getting there won’t be easy. One respondent at SkinnyScoop wrote, “We are ready and there are more of us than them, we just need to get out and vote ladies.” It seems simple. But it’s not. The sad truth is we haven’t moved past the misogyny and sexism we witnessed during Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. Senate hopeful Martha Coakley didn’t do herself any favors when she made some bad campaign decisions last winter but the press didn’t do her many favors either. And the Republicans don’t seem to treat their women much better, as Newsweek recently pointed out. I remember during Clinton’s presidential run people groaning about the word misogyny. “I’m so sick of feminists talking about misogyny,” friends and coworkers would tell me when I was discussing things Tucker Carlson, Chris Matthews, Glen Beck and Keith Olbermann had said on television the night before. I challenge those same people to come up with a better explanation for Playboy’s recent [...]

Read more »

Happy Independence Day

July 2, 2010
By
Happy Independence Day

Greetings from Boston! “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This weekend we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.  Thank you to all who support and protect us. Today seems like a fitting day to remember the women of the world who are yet to celebrate independence. Learn about CEDAW – The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – an international treaty that supports fundamental human rights and equality for women around the world. CEDAW was adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly and entered into force in 1981. To date, 186 of 193 countries have ratified the treaty. The United States has not.  

Read more »

Global Update on Equal Right’s

July 1, 2010
By
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 [...]

Read more »

Varying Degrees of Progress

June 30, 2010
By

Iceland’s prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, just got married – to another woman; the country’s marriage equality laws went into effect this past week. And for the record, Iceland elected its first female president, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, thirty years ago. Now that’s progress. Meanwhile, Australia has a new prime minister – its first woman to hold the position, (progress) and she is unmarried, which is causing significant discussion. Julia Gillard, elected June 24, does have a boyfriend and the Sydney Morning Herald is concerned with their living arrangements. In article titled, “Shacking up is hard to do: why Gillard may be leery of the Lodge,” writer Bettina Arndt worries that, “as a popular role model for women, her lifestyle choice may influence other women into making big mistakes about their lives.” That mistake is “wasting precious breeding time in such uncertain relationships.” Wow. That doesn’t feel like progress. The newspaper even ran a poll asking “Do you agree that Julia Gillard’s de facto lifestyle is a bad influence for women?” So far 78 percent of respondents have said no. That’s progress. And here in the United States, the closest we’ve come to electing a woman to lead the country was Hillary Clinton’s [...]

Read more »

Is Cheerleading a Sport? Updated

June 22, 2010
By
Is Cheerleading a Sport? Updated

The U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Connecticut is currently hearing a case that asks the question, “Is cheerleading a sport? ” Five members of the women’s volleyball team plus the coach at Quinnipiac College in Connecticut filed a lawsuit after the school cancelled the volleyball program in favor of a competitive cheering squad. The move was a budget decision but sparked a Title IX debate. Title IX is the 1972 law requiring gender equity in all federally funded sports programs. The suit is being heard as a class action for all female athletes at Quinnipiac and the judge will determine if the school manipulated its rosters to comply with Title IX and if cheerleading meets the definition of a sport. Competitive cheerleading certainly requires athleticism and it is widely considered to be dangerous. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina, cheerleading is responsible for 65 percent of all catastrophic injuries in girls’ high school athletics. When cheerleading is done competitively, it seems obvious it could hold its own against any other sport. Certainly all of those jumps, flips and gymnastics moves require as much skill and stamina as spiking a ball [...]

Read more »

Get Adobe Flash player