On this International Women’s Day, March 8, 2021, I keep wishing this day was over. Maybe not what a feminist should be wishing. I should be celebrating this day, posting positive messages about women, and making known my feminist ideas. And I am doing that, but also wondering how and why we still need to be doing the work of promoting ideas of equality.
I see many more women working at NASA in positions of leadership, in the halls of congress and in the White House cabinet. It is encouraging. But women have been disproporationatly hurt by the pandemic, losing 5.4 million jobs so far, 1 million more than men. History has shown as that when rights are considered, men’s rights are considered more important.
And then the news 2 days ago about the equal rights amendment. The bill was first introduced 50 years ago. And even though the Virginia legislature finally passed it, the bill remains in limbo with a federal judge deeming 50 years is just too late to act. The Equal Rights Amendment passed its expiration date. The likely next step is the supreme court. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 50 years to address the obvious inequities that keep women as the second sex.