One Positive Change in the World I Have Witnessed Is....
One Positive
Change in the World I Have Witnessed
It’s hard to
choose just one thing. I’ve lived
through men walking on the moon for the first time, end of the Vietnam War, major
civil right actions and women’s rights. There is much more to be done and
fought for on many of these and other issues but having lived and experienced
through some does give me a perspective that possibly someone younger might not
have. Just as those older than me have their own perspective on what they lived
through and experienced.
The one
thing that I think has had the most impact on me personally is the woman’s
movement. I was never a militant, I never marched or protested and at times I
have felt guilty not being more vocal for what I feel and believe. But I have
tried to live my life true to what I believe and have spoken up at times that I
felt were necessary.
The most
militant I ever got was bringing pants to high school to change into although
girls were not allowed to wear pants. I wasn’t alone, some of my friends were
also doing this, and we knew we would be called to the office and made to
change back into our skirts and dresses. It was to make the point that girls
were being told what they could or couldn’t wear and boys weren’t. By my senior
year in school girls were allowed to wear pants but never jeans or shorts.
In 1972 title IX was passed and girl’s sports were
mandated to be equal to what the boys had. I wasn’t especially athletic but I
did participate in what was called GAA, Girls Athletic Association. It was
basically an extramural club and we played sports but not at the same level
that the boys did. There were no team bus trips or uniforms and our basket ball
courts and ball fields were smaller and not as well kept. After title IX passed
in my senior year things slowly started to change but in many schools sports
still aren’t a level playing field for both boys and girls.
When I was
in high school if a girl became pregnant she wasn’t allowed to finish school although
the boy, who was the father, was able to stay in school. Also a girl would always seem to get a “bad
reputation” if she dated a lot of boys or went to a lot of parties but guys
were admired for dating and partying a lot. I think this double standard of
what is admired for boys and criticized for girls is still a common practice and unfair.
One of the
biggest influences on me was the publication of MS magazine which was founded
by Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedman in 1971or72. I was in an elective class in
high school where we discussed current events and held debates about different
issues. A friend’s mother was a professor at a local community college and
Gloria and Betty were coming to give a talk. I as invited to go with them and
still remember listening to Gloria Steinem and being in awe.
Back at class my friend and I debated the pros
of women’s rights and how things should be made more equal for the sexes. My friend ended up backing down after a lot
of push back from some of the other students but that made me believe in the
movement even more. I didn’t necessarily have the words to explain what I felt
but I knew how I felt.
When I was a
sophomore in college there was a televised tennis battle between Billy Jean
King and Bobby Riggs. I watched it with a mixed group of males and females and
a boyfriend that I had at the time who considered himself a tennis great. When Billy Jean won he couldn’t handle it and
the teasing that followed. Even though it was only a tennis match how he, and
others, reacted to a woman beating a man told me a lot about their own
prejudices.
While I was
in high school and later in college I knew many women who became pregnant
because birth control wasn’t easily available to them. A woman’s right to make
her own decisions about her body and her health and has always been important
to me because I saw friends who didn’t feel as though they had a choice and
their lives were negatively affected because of that lack of choice. Many
doctors wouldn’t prescribe unmarried women birth control and some even wanted
the husband’s okay before giving it to a married woman.
Before 1974
women couldn’t apply for or get credit in their own name. This didn’t affect me
much since I was in college and no one I knew, male or female, had a credit
card. After I graduated I did apply for and got a credit card and a loan for a
car. I recall being nervous about applying and I needed a co-signature for the
car but wanted to get credit on my own. My mother never had any credit or even
a checking account until after she and my father divorced and I had to teach
her how to write a check and do some simple banking.
I could go
on about the pay inequality in most workplaces still today. I was fortunate
that I worked in a county government position and the pay scale was set
regardless if man or woman. Even if the pay scale is equal for both male and
females there is still a disparity since it is most often the woman who is
responsible for the child care, leaving work for a sick child or taking a break
in their career to have and raise the children. This is changing slowly and
more men are taking on child rearing responsibilities but too often the woman’s
career and earning power suffers when she has children.
I think
things have gotten much better for women but there are still many areas in life
that need to move forward and make some very needed changes. I have great hopes
for your generation of men and women. As each generation is raised with more
acceptance of the equality of all people, regardless of sex, color,
nationality, religion etc the better society as a whole can become.
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