Weaving Women In

[niyad]

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And then there’s Women’s Equality Day. In 1971, Bella Abzug worked with her colleagues in Congress to have August 26, the day the passage of the 19th amendment is commemorated, declared as such. Here’s the text of the joint resolution, which is reissued each year by the sitting president:
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Although well-intended at the time, it now seems insulting, hypocritical and downright ridiculous that this proclamation needs to be reissued every year because women are still treated as second-class citizens. As a nation, why don’t we just fix that? Why is “the continued fight” necessary? And the part about women uniting to assure that such rights and privileges are available? When Congress is 80 percent male, it can’t just be up to the women. (Some women aren’t even on board, believing the Adam’s rib fable and other biblically paternalistic rhetoric.) And trying to defund Planned Parenthood certainly doesn’t support our “organizations and activities,” as the never-ending resolution decrees.

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Social justice is the very basis of an egalitarian society. It’s what we don’t have in our American culture. And never have. Since proposed in 1923, we’ve been unable to get the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed, which simply says, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” What kind of civilized nation would have a problem with that? Sexist comments ooze out of Donald Trump’s mouth because sexism still oozes out of every corner of our misogynist nation. Some postulate that he’s high in the polls because he’s saying what everyone else is thinking. We should be frightened, not amused.

The suffragists barely make a cameo appearance in our history books. There’s no official parade to commemorate women gaining the right to vote after 150 years, 75 of which involved active political struggle. No one knows Sojourner Truth from Harriet Tubman. There are no birthdays of famous women celebrated as national holidays. And we get one lousy month to showcase our contributions.

It’s long past time to weave accomplished women and gender-inclusive legislation into the fabric of American culture. Abolish Women’s History Month and instead re-write our history books to give women their rightful place. Abolish Women’s Equality Day and instead pass the ERA to make women truly equal under the law. As Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote, “The battle is not wholly fought until women stand equal in the church, the world of work, and have an equal code of morals for both sexes.”


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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/08/26/weaving-women-in/



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