March is Women’s History Month and recently International
Women’s Day garnered lots of buzz on social media. Social injustice is rearing
its ugly head across the globe daily. Here in America we are sadly reminded
that racism is still a very real issue and sexism was never truly dealt with.
We see remarkable leaders like accomplished actor and humanitarian Emma
Watson spearheading the movement for gender equality as the UN Women Goodwill
Ambassador. She has inspired countless people, young and old, male and female
to take a stand with her #HeForShe campaign.
At the 2015 Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress Winner Patricia
Arquette used a few moments of her acceptance speech to shed light on the
subject. Arquette won her Oscar for the
portrayal of a young, single mother in the movie Boyhood. Here is a follow up
statement she made after her comments generated mixed reactions.
“I
wasn’t talking about my own position. I know I’ve been really blessed in my
life. What I was talking about is the other 52 percent, and how it doesn’t make
sense why they’re being discriminated [against] because of their gender.
They’re taking the same student loans but taking years to pay it back, making
half a million to a million dollars less over a lifetime. That’s money they’re
not putting into Social Security, or using to pay for college or childcare. I
won an Academy Award because I played a single mom, moving and moving again and
trying to provide for her kids. I thought long and hard about how her life
would have been better with wage equality, and if she made those extra cents on
the dollar; and how if she was Latina, she’d need to make those fifty cents
more, or how if she was African-American, she’d need to make those 40 cents
more.” Patricia
Arquette, Time Magazine Interview
According to the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research women make $0.78 for every dollar a man makes and
at the rate we are going the disparity won't equalize until 2058. Female CEOs
make 20% less of their male counterparts and female lawyers make 43% less than
males.
I think how we can help other women is the key question. Women are now entering a stage of helping each
other succeed rather than seeing each other as competition. Now is the right time to
bond together and gain traction.
“The rung of the ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a
foot long enough to enable them to put other foot somewhat higher”
Thomas H. Huxley
