It really gripes me
(well if this were not the world wide web where my blankety blank *&*%$#@***++ words would be out there forever, I would really let fly and tell you how I really feel) about the double and triple discriminations women suffer economically. We are the majority of the poor overall. We are the majority of the elderly and elderly poor. We are the majority of the minority and the minority poor. We are the majority of the American population period, so our concerns and issues as the majority group should take precedence period!
Women still make 1/2 to 3/4 of what men make and with equal or better education. In general women make 77cents on the white man's dollar, Moms 73 cents and single moms 60 cents. African American women 63 cents on the dollar and Hispanic women 52 cents. And we are the caretakers of children and the elderly. Is it any wonder that women suffer health issues so badly!
Back in 1978, when I was director of NOW-NYC (National Organization for Women- New York City Chapter--and that is FOR women not OF women. IE., women and men working for women of all shades of tan) the numbers were worse. Then it was 69 cents on the white man's dollar. But Hispanic and African american women earned less.
Having worked on this issue for more than 30 years, it is clear to me that the old truism Money Is Power is true.
All the systemic legal, social , and cultural barriers that are in society and in our heads serve to help maintain a minority group economic dominance. Totally unfair. but now a recent NYTimes article says that women are taking equal economic hits...http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/business/22jobs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=women%20take%20equal%20economic%20hits&st=cse&oref=slog.
Momsrising http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25240 calls on you to take action. go to their website to see what legislation to support.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, has put her finger on it in her new book, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, which is coming out tomorrow http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780385525862.html. In 2007 she said in her history-making Speaker of the House acceptance speech:
"Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to acheive our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and grandaughters today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and grandaughters now the sky is the limit."
Today the economy is in the toilet
and women of all ages feel it the most. Get on the backs of your senators and congresspeople and make them support legislation that benefits US.
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