Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Happy Women's Equality Day!!


Today is Women's Equality Day!!!

It commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment (the Woman Suffrage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution), which gave U.S. women full voting rights in 1920.

This is a great day for all of us, women and men alike. This is also a day to reflect on how much work still remains to be done in the area of gender equality.

"The fact is, women are in chains, and their servitude is all the more debasing because they do not realize it." (Susan B. Anthony)

"I can't say that the college-bred woman is the most contented woman. The broader her mind the more she understands the unequal conditions between men and women, the more she shafes under a government that tolerates it." (Susan B. Anthony)

"Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel." (Bella Abzug)

"Women have been and are prejudiced, narrowminded, reactionary, even violent. Some women. They, of course, have a right to vote and a right to run for office. I will defend that right, but I will not support them or vote for them." (Bella Abzug)

"I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is trusting the individual to make the right decision for herself and her family, and not entrusting that decision to anyone wearing the authority of government in any regard." (Hillary Rodham Clinton)

"Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow victim." (Betty Friedan)

"The most notable fact our culture imprints on women is the sense of our limits. The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate and expand her sense of actual possibilities." (Adrienne Rich)

"The more education a woman has, the wider the gap between men's and women's earnings for the same work." (Sandra Day O'Connor)

"But the problem is that when I go around and speak on campuses, I still don't get young men standing up and saying, 'How can I combine career and family?'" (Gloria Steinem)

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off." (Gloria Steinem)

6 comments:

Laura said...

GREAT quotes!

I'm all about Women's Equality Day, but I also think it's important to realize that we should not be thinking about women's equality only on this day (as I'm sure you are all too aware!). I understand that it commemorates the signing of the 19th Amendment, but it is kind of along the lines of Women's History Month, Black History Month, etc. for me. Women's equality should not be delegated to one day, it should be incorporated in every day!

Anonymous said...

What's a "schlemiel"?

And happy Women's Equality day to you too!

Natalee said...

I love this one by Gloria Steinem: "A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after". :-)

Of course, you can skip the marriage altogether. I mean, if you have sex and a job, who the hell needs it?

Happy Equality day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clarissa said...

Thank you, Laura! I agree that this day has to remind us of how much is still left to achieve in our struggle.

"What's a "schlemiel"?"

-It's the same as "schmuck" or "schlepper." :-) Which means something like "a dolt."

Great quote, Natalee, I love it!!!

Anonymous said...

Since everybody is quoting--

"There are no good girls gone wrong, just bad girls found out. "

And

"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. "

By the great MAE WEST!

Clarissa said...

I love May West! Especially the famous "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" :-)