While the Women’s March core theme this month seemed to center around reproductive rights, there is much more to our gender inequality story.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, women’s earnings were 83.6% of men’s in 2023.
The current U.S. Congress has 535 seats, only 151 or 28.2% are women (110 Democrat, 41 Republican). Of the 151 women, 94 identify as white. There will be only one woman chairing a committee seat this session — North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, 81, will chair the House Rules Committee. Chairs of the remaining standing committees will be held by white men.
In 1918, Montana Republican Jeannette Rankin was the first women elected to Congress. Patsy Takemoto Mink was the first Asian American elected to Congress in 1964 and Shirley Chisholm was the first African American elected in 1968.
Today, only about one-third of active judges are women.
The State of Women Clergy report in 2016 states that only 20% of professional clergy were women. U.S. clergy workforce data shows that in 2022 that declined to 19%.
According to the American Association of University Women website, “women make up only 34% of the workforce in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college.”
In response to discrimination of minorities and women in hiring and education, President Kennedy signed an executive order in 1961 implementing affirmative action practices. This practice was solidified when the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission was created and a provision, Title VII, was added to the Civil Rights Act in 1972 prohibiting employment discrimination by large employers; this commission is still in place. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 ended affirmative action in higher education. As an alternative to affirmative action, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) emerged more strongly from its 1980s beginnings. Under the new Trump administration, DEI policies are being shut down and federal employees who use the policies are being fired.
The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment road began in 1923. It’s had many obstacles due to complex federal and state ratification requirements. Some states have more recently ratified (Virginia in 2020) and some have actually withdrawn their ratification (can they do that?). Groups pressured President Joe Biden to direct the National archivist to publish it and in so doing believed it would be ratified. His last minute-attempt at that seemed to bear no weight and we know not why. What is Congress afraid of?
Here’s to all the strong, educated, compassionate and loving women in our world. We should learn about them, know them, try to be them, try to raise them. March is Women’s History Month.
Therese Lewandowski is a longtime Homer resident.
