Today is International Women's Day, an event the world has been celebrating for more than 100 years. Personally, I hope it's the last one.
Do we celebrate International Men's Day? No, we don't. Because, when it comes down to it, every day is International Men's Day. In pretty much every country across the globe, men still rule. Sure, there are some female leaders. But most of the powerhouses -- the ones making the laws -- are still men.
Although women make up more than half the population, they are routinely treated like second-class citizens all over the world. And before we get any grandiose ideas that it's any different in the United States, let's take a look at some of these facts:
Equal rights in employment, healthcare, safety and respect should not be a political issue. It should be our right as American citizens. All men are created equal -- and so are all women. There is a war against women going on in this country, and it's time to fight back. Imagine Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Libertarians all coming together as women.
This is an election year, ladies (and men who care about us). We need to really study and question each of the candidates' positions on women's issues and make our voice heard through our vote. If you think the rights we've fought so hard for can't be overturned or taken away, think again. Who would have believed we'd be arguing about birth control in the United States in the year 2012? We can not be complacent.
The good news is we really can make a difference. Just watch this amazing documentary, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," about the woman who took on the war lords of Liberia and miraculously brought peace to her country. If ONE woman can do that, imagine what we can do TOGETHER. And take a look at the video below about the woman behind the groundbreaking Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which President Obama signed into law in 2009. Again, just one woman made this happen, improving the future for our daughters and granddaughters.
We can help our sisters around the world change their fates. We can send money, donate our time, sign petitions. But, as we're told to do on every single flight, we have to take care of ourselves before we can save anyone else.
Let's celebrate International Women's Day by banding together to make the day unnecessary. As women, we don't want special treatment - just equal.
Baroness Mary Goudie: Women in Society
This is patently false. If "greedy, cut-throat, profit-obsessed" employers could get away with paying women less than men in the same positions, no man would have a job.
No law yet has closed the gender wage gap — not the 1963 Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, not Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, not the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, not the 1991 amendments to Title VII, not affirmative action (which has benefited mostly white women, the group most vocal about the wage gap - http://tinyurl.com/74cooen), not diversity, not the countless state and local laws and regulations, not the horde of overseers at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and not the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.... Nor will a "paycheck fairness" law work.
That's because pay-equity advocates continue to overlook the effects of female AND male behavior described in "Will the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Help Women?" at http://malemattersusa.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/will-the-ledbetter-fair-pay-act-help-women/
Also, it is not an affront to religious liberties. No one is forcing you to take birth control if you don't want to.
And this has always been the case... so why are we having a debate over birth control?
Brainwashed much?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-28246928/the-gender-pay-gap-is-a-complete-myth/
http://www.businessinsider.com/actually-the-gender-pay-gap-is-just-a-myth-2011-3?op=1
Secondly, there -is- an international men's day and I'm A-OK with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Men%27s_Day
Look, old feminism was a healthy thing back when women were truly second class citizens in the United States. Neo-Feminism, however, is simply a gratuitous and absurd sexist movement that has nothing to do with 'equality' and is more akin to a female supremacy movement.
I'm sure you, the author, (and others) will disagree with the various findings that state the gender pay gap is almost nothing like most would have us believe and I'd welcome that debate.
I just feel more than a bit disgusted that 'equality' and 'championing' sex/race/religion is ONLY 'acceptable' when it is a minority or seemingly oppressed group in question. White male? Nope. Christian\Catholic? Nope. Heterosexual? Nope.
"Well Christians\White\Men shouldn't be strutting their self!" Why? Because the politics of today have dictated that somehow we're this oppressive evil group that have enslaved and dominated others in the past? Is our understanding of history really this skewed?
Are we really so gullible?
There's a difference between equality and "having your cake and eating it too".
This whole thing is a sham.
The women's movement towards equality will happen with or without you, if you can't support it, then don't waste your energy opposing it and for goodness sake STOP WHINING!!!
Florence Nightingale
Hatshepsut, King of Egypt
Rosa Parks
They did stuff.
Don't ask for equality then get mad when men no longer hold doors open for us or treat us like ladies. I’ve seen it too many times with my friends
It is also Women's History month. Learning our history isn't "cute" it's essential, especially if you have been lulled into thinking that women have made great strides in key areas, so we should just calm down.