Women’s lib is not over.

Nor should it be. I am happy that today we are leaps and bounds ahead of where women stood in, say, the 1950’s, where the ideal was Donna Read. While some women might very well prefer that way of life (and that’s perfectly okay), the rest of us can more easily pursue other avenues. The emphasis is on the “more,” not the “easily.” I think it says a lot about how much further we have to go towards equality that just this week we are seeing the Senate pass a wage discrimination bill. This news makes me happy to no end, but the fact that we need a bill of this sort highlights the fact that women are still not treated equally in the work force. I was aghast a couple of years ago when I heard that Lilly Ledbetter's lawsuit against Goodyear for wage discrimination was denied simply because she had not known about the discrimination until after working there for 19 years, basically saying that wage discrimination was A.O.K. as long as it was kept secret.

Also, I caught a bit on CNN today about how women are upset that with President Obama’s possible job creation plan there will not be enough jobs created for women, since most of the work will focus on construction. I think that is another barrier to overcome, thinking that women can’t do construction jobs. Ever heard of Rosie the Riveter? Creating public works jobs can benefit both sexes, as long as women are not discriminated against in hiring practices. The idea of “women’s jobs” and “men’s jobs” is an outmoded idea. There are in within both sexes people capable of doing all sorts of jobs equally well and the only profession I can currently think of that requires specific male or female roles is pornography.

As I’m writing this I notice that Sparky has also posted something on the struggle of women in the work place. Check it out. There is definitely still a ways to go for women to be on equal footing with men in this sphere.