Thursday, August 26, 2010

Women's Equality Day. Reason to celebrate? Not quite yet...

Today is Women's Equality Day, the commemoration of women’s suffrage achieved in 1920. Is there a lot to celebrate? Yes and no. Yes there has been much progress since 1920, but no, as we are far from achieving anything close to equality in this country. Is it not time, I mean really, to ask ourselves why not? I can sort of see why it might not matter to men, but to women? To girls? If you think we have arrived, then please feel free to quote me the statistics to prove it. Yes women are over half the college graduates, but we still make 77 cents to the male dollar. Women are still so far from being equally represented in leadership positions and in elected positions. Far. We are way more likely to be poor, to experience violence, to be exploited. A better world for women is a better world for men too. It is not a win lose.

To commemorate this special day I wrote this article that appears on BLOOMBERG with the most incredible Linda Tarr-Whelan, author of "Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World." We put forth a call to action -" We need a national conversation led by the White House to explore how women decision-makers can help achieve better economic performance and a more prosperous future for all. It is time." It is time to take the matter of gender equality in this country seriously. It is time.

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