I just got back from the YWCA Leadership Luncheon. It was actually my second year being able to go to the luncheon. I'm glad I was invited to go. Last year, the speaker was the author of The Glass Castle and she told about her very unique experiences growing up. I started reading the book, but never finished. I might pick it up again after I finish reading The Help.
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about last year's luncheon. I want to talk about what was spoken on today. The keynote speaker today was Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the writer, director & producer of a documentary called Miss Representation. It's a film about how media contributes to the under-representation of women in influential positions & perpetuates the idea that women's primary value lies in their youth, beauty & sexuality (I got the above from a combination of the website & what was written in the luncheon handout).
No, I haven't seen the film. Yes, I REALLY want to now. (FYI - it's premiering on OWN (Oprah's network) on Oct. 20 for anyone interested in seeing it).
Jennifer spoke a lot about the appalling statistics that embody our society. Did you know that women represent 51% of our country & yet we are still not well represented in government, business, etc? It's sad that women don't get the same opportunities as men do in many (if not most) aspects of our society. There are fields where women are the dominant sex (education being one of them). But for the most part, women still struggle to make their mark on our society.
But this brings up the question: are women not given the opportunities to succeed or do they simply choose a different lifestyle (ie staying home to raise the children)? Do women choose to not follow careers in business, government, etc? Or is society not giving them the opportunities?
I'm sure it's a little bit of both.
But I don't like that women feel that they are not given the same opportunities as men. That's not OK with me. And there are facts to support that women do not get the same opportunities as men. You take a man and a women with the same education, same experience & the same job. Compare their salaries. Just guess who gets paid more...the man of course! On average, a women gets paid $0.77 for every $1 a man makes. And that's assuming they can get the job in the first place. That's not cool.
Not to mention the fact that women don't get paid to be a full-time mom.
Now I'm not saying that men are to blame in this. We women have helped in this as well. We don't stand up for ourselves. We let this happen. And we perpetuate it with things like The Real Housewives, etc. Yes - all those shows that we love to hate (but yet we still watch) are perpetuating the idea that women aren't worth as much as men. We are teaching ourselves & our children (metaphorical children in my case) that a woman's worth isn't more than fake boobs, 10 pounds of makeup, the "perfect" body & rich husbands.
I don't know about you, but I would NEVER want my daughter (if God willing I ever have one) to think that she's not worth more than that.
Women are special. I am special. You are special. We are worth so much more than what society portrays us as. We are so much more than sex objects to be lust after by the men running our country & businesses. WE could (and should) be running this country & those businesses.
So what can we do? Do we all need to strive to be the next CEO of a fortune 500 company? Do we all need to run for office? No. I'm not saying that. Mainly because I don't want to do either of those things. I actually hope to one day be a full-time stay at home mom. That's my dream. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.
But maybe if we all are a bit more conscious of how we portray ourselves, our daughters/nieces/cousins/sisters/etc., & every other women in the world, we could make a difference. We are strong women of the 21st Century. Maybe it's time we really start acting like it & demanding that our society notice.
OK...so no. I don't have any REAL ideas on what we can do to change our society & how it views women. I'm still trying to figure that out. But I wanted to share my thoughts. Maybe awareness is the first step we need to make our society & it's view of women better.
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