I wonder as I write the title to this post, if life today can be considered a happy time for women. As women’s health sits center stage with the religious freedom controversy, for better or worse, it has a lot of people fired up.
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, headlined on last night’s The Daily Show with an inspiring, no-nonsense attitude and an arsenal of statistics. She showed uncompromising confidence in Planned Parenthood, and the support they provide to the entire nation (supporting American women = supporting our nation). She acknowledged that one in five American women receives services from Planned Parenthood in her lifetime. She also pointed out that 90% of care from Planned Parenthood is preventative. I highly recommend the interview to curious or skeptical readers.
A few days ago, Jessica Winter provided a wry, critical look at how legislators, employers, judges, and commentators throw their weight around to the detriment of women’s civil liberties. The article confronts the status quo through a serial list of offences against women. She implies that in this world where talking heads resound and court cases set precedents, a slight to one woman is a slight to all women. I can’t think of a better message for International Women’s Day.
Photo from NPR, via The Daily Beast
But women are talking about more than just health care. Newsweek hosts the third annual Women in the World Summit, with an impressive line up of speakers. Since Tina Brown took over as editor, they have done a great job covering women’s issues. A few days ago they published a retrospective pieceabout how female journalists rose to prominence with NPR when other media outlets were not so open to women. These women took the slim opportunities available to them and made a name for themselves. The story describes the “Fallopian Jungle” where these “Founding Mothers” worked.
The internets flow today with a surplus of stories by, for, and about women. I can’t possibly reference all the stories I’m interested in, but I hope they extend beyond International Women’s Day. Here’s to today’s conversation!
News from the Margins 
International Women’s Day and VAWA Converge, Illuminating Progress and Struggles Towards Gender Equity
I find myself puzzling over the fact that there is no Violence Against Men Act, nor popular observance of International Men’s Day in the U.S. What does this inconsistency say about the genders? We’re not equal, but we’re trying?
The reauthorization, which first passed in 1994 with bipartisan support under President Clinton, recognizes to some extent the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault which disproportionately affect women. VAWA reauthorization did not pass easily this time around, and it got tabled a year ago amid bipartisan bickering over added provisions for Native American, LGBT, and immigrant victims. Those provisions made it into the now-law.
The VAWA reauthorization provides needed funding and services to victims of violence but doesn’t ultimately address the cultures of violence, the reasons women are often victimized, and why acts like rape continue to take place in high numbers throughout the world.
International Women’s Day derived from women’s labor struggles, which persist today. In a Christian Science Monitor article, Steph Solis quotes Carol Rosenblatt’s concern about the factory fires in Bangladesh that killed many female garment workers to demonstrate that women still work for low wages in poor conditions. In addition to freedom from violence and access to fair wages and work conditions, women around the world still fight for equal access from food and clean toilet facilities to maternal health care and parental leave after birth.
In the Guardian, a somewhat sour Suzanne Moore describes International Women’s Day events as, “a strange mixture of talking about female genital mutilation (bad) and then listening to some great women musicians (good).” Both of the Christian Science Monitor’s stories about the international celebration opened with descriptions of the Doodles designed for the day on the Google homepage (one of which makes the G out of the Venus symbol). I’m not sure of the value of Google’s recognition of the day, though it likely promotes awareness to those unfamiliar with the holiday.
Folks throughout the world celebrate International Women’s Day with different practices, some women get time off work, or additional help with housework from the men in their lives. This year in the U.S. women can take the day to appreciate ongoing support for victims of violence though the sentiment remains bittersweet – because the VAWA law and International Women’s Day serve as landmarks towards gender equity which inadvertently highlight the broad disparities that remain between men and women.