International Women's Day

To quote a great woman's post today, here's a bit of the Nag:

If you're female and...
...you can vote, thank a feminist.

.....

...you can get or give birth control information without going to jail, thank a feminist
...your doctor, lawyer, pastor judge or legislator is a woman, thank a feminist.

.....

...you own property that is solely yours, thank a feminist.

There's more to be thankful for, at her post.

Today is also a day to think about what's still wanting:

• women are still subjected to violence and injustice in many parts of the world
• women are not included in the decision-making processes of their countries (or in their homes)
• women around the world often don't have the right to work, or if they do work, they are paid very little
• girl children are more likely to not be in school than boy children

And what about at home? So many young women today recoil at the word feminist, but they still

• are often hired on their looks alone ("You can see they don't hire over the phone here!" is a line I hear from Metro a lot...).
• get paid less than their male counterparts.
• do the majority of the volunteer work (that governments at all levels have come to lean on for so many social services, but that's a different post). A man is more likely to expect to be paid for their skills than a woman.
• are subject to eating disorders arising from societal expectations of how they look -- but then to be fair, so are young men. We've regressed utterly in this.
• are raped at a disgusting rate

So, here's to International Women's Day....may it outlive its usefulness one day very soon!

Lori