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TweetGuest post by none other than…my Mom
The early 70′s, my college years, I remember it well. Lots of anti-war protests, drugged out hippies everywhere, and the women’s movement in full force and gaining lots of momentum (“burn your bra” rally’s, ‘memba them? yikes!). One of the big feminist causes was fighting sexism in the workplace – fighting for new ideas like equal pay for equal work, removing the glass ceiling, removing discrimination and accepting women in the workplace, on the news and in positions of authority. Their plea was “As women, we need to work TOGETHER in order to achieve the necessary reforms”. Girl power! It didn’t matter what your individual political views were, or even what gender you were – all were welcome to support the cause. It was a time of great unity among women in our country.
Women fought hard to reform those employment laws, but even so, society took years to adjust their opinions and practices. Growing up, little girls like me never saw women in any positions of power or influence. No women on TV news, no women in government, no women in charge of anything. And the people to blame – males in positions of power (“male chauvinist pigs” as the radicals called them). I remember being coached my senior year in college, preparing for job interviews, on how to deal with sexist questions. We were taught, no employer can ask you about your marital status, your husband, your children, your plans for future children, or your family life. If they do, you politely say, “federal law forbids you asking or me answering those questions”. At most every interview I experienced as a new college grad I faced questions about my personal life, and had to find a way to avoid answering them, but still remain in contention for the job. When was the last time you or anyone you know were asked in a job interview about your kids and how will you manage to take care of them and still perform on your job? or if you plan to have children anytime soon? or if your husband approves of you working? Yeah, you have your mom and all her friends to thank for that.
Incredibly, Sarah Palin is being criticized for personal/family issues that are not even allowed to be discussed in a job interview! Even more astounding, she is being criticized by other WOMEN – women in the media, journalists, news commentators, all of whom have obviously benefited from the many women who have gone before them, paving their way. Women who have benefited, must also have a responsibility to continue to pave the way for future generations of women. At the democratic convention Michelle Obama gave props to Senator HIllary Clinton’s accomplishments in the democratic primaries, her “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling”. I thought, oh man, she just reinforced the fact that there still IS a glass ceiling for women, and that ,amazingly, even with 18 million cracks in it, it’s STILL there! Not cool. In fact, Hillary Clinton broke through several glass ceilings in her bid to obtain the presidential nomination of her party, she achieved more than any other woman had before her. She did more than put cracks in it, she completely shattered the previous glass ceiling held by other women who aspired to be their party’s presidential candidate.
My kudos go to Sarah Palin who, in her very first public comments, graciously acknowledged that it was because of other women who went before her, (democratic women, no less) paving the way, that she now has this incredible opportunity. Geraldine Ferraro, the first female VP nominee ever, and staunch democrat said “Even though I don’t agree with her policies, Sarah Palin is smart, she knows her stuff, and of course she is qualified to be Vice President. My friend Joe Biden had better be very worried about his upcoming debate with her”. Very cool.
Maybe we need to give today’s female commentators a history lesson. The women in today’s workforce need to wake up and realize sexist remarks against other women will not only set back the cause of women and all of our amazing accomplishments in the last 30 years, but will ultimately be an obstacle to themselves and their daughters as they pursue their own future career goals. Do they really want to be passed over on their next job promotion because of “obstacles at home”? As women, instead of joining in on the sexist comments, we need to point out to others, whenever possible, that discussing a woman’s qualifications for a job should never include the subjects of her marriage, her motherhood, her home/family situation. Senator Obama has stated Sarah Palin’s kids are “off limits” from political discussion. But that statement was based on common decency. The sexism of discussing anything referring to her family life as part of her job qualifications was not addressed.
What both the Obama and McCain campaigns should have said was this, “In discussing Sarah Palin’s job qualifications, like all other men and women across America, we will not be asking her about or discussing her marriage, her motherhood, or her home and family life as part of her qualifications for the job of Vice President of the United States. We recognize that women have fought hard for the last century to remove sexism in the workplace, and are not about to go back to the days where women were often denied job opportunities or career advancements because of their current or future family situation. We will vigorously enforce this policy with our campaign and all of our supporters, and will point out sexist comments in the media whenever we have the opportunity.”
Maybe we could even get the campaigns to address the plight of women around the world?
Ahh, well, a girl can dream, can’t she?
Mom
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