About Women 1

In this week’s column, I have a few things to say about women. I admit,  I once believed men and women were identical. Do they have identical intelligence and capability? Absolutely. Are they completely the same as men? Absolutely not. I want to live in a Barbie world.

Shards From The Glass Ceiling

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First, the good news; the UN says we will achieve Gender Equity! By 2310.

As a second-wave feminist, inaugural subscriber to Ms. Magazine and the father of two daughters (THAT oughta establish my bona fides), I am deeply chagrined by how many woman are cut deeply by shards from the glass ceiling, and by how many such ceilings still exist.

The most recent obvious example being Harvard’s first black president, Claudine Gay, hounded out of office after her abuse by a congressional committee. Would Tom, Dick and Harry have been subject to that level of disrespect and harassment? Not in this life.

And, of course, there is the trope that women generally are not made CEO until the company is a hopeless basket case, so they can be left holding the bag.

This has been going on a long time. Even in 1968, I was disgusted by “You’ve come a long way, baby,” the sexist slogan of Virginia Slims. Yes, they sponsored women’s tennis, but really? Cigarettes as a marker of gender equity?

Still, there are glass ceilings being broken; “Look out below!” I am not a huge baseball fan, but I follow it closely enough to know that a female umpire is behind the plate in spring training for a second time, with a chance to make it to the show.

On the broadcast side, women have called play-by-play for years, as the second banana while the primary play-by-play goes to answer nature’s call. Splitting hairs, this week “the first female primary play-by-play voice in Major League Baseball history” started work for the Oakland/Las Vegas/Who knows Athletics.

My point? Why are we still having these firsts? Why do women make less than men? (even after adjusting for age, experience, etc.). Some progress: 60 cents on the dollar when I graduated from college in 1974, 80 cents on the dollar today. I hope I live long enough to see equal pay.

Next Week: Why I Listen To The Women In My Life