If you had asked me when I was a first year in college, would I personally have worked in politics or run for office, I would have laughed, like hysterically.  Well the joke was on me, three years later, I ran to be Vice President of the Student Council at my University. I was compelled to be part of changing how things were done on campus, and the only way to do that was to run for leadership in student government. I had no idea what I was doing, was TERRIFIED of public speaking to the point of shaking, and while I volunteered and organized events on a committee for Student Council for 3 years, I worried people would doubt my qualifications, but I set my mind to it. Little did I know that that experience would begin to lead me away from a career in journalism and toward a career in politics and public service.

Recently, perhaps with women like me in mind, Emily’s List, a PAC dedicated to encouraging and electing pro-choice Democratic women, launched their new campaign to help elect a woman to the highest office in the land, President of the United States.

Also called MPOTUS, the campaign inspired Emily’s List from research produced by Anzalone List Grove Research: Almost unanimously (90%), voters in the battleground states would consider voting for a qualified woman candidate from their party… 72% believe that it is likely that America will elect a woman president in the next presidential election including 86% of Democratic primary voters.”

Regardless of political affiliation there is still a gap in political leadership for women but the ground is shifting. Despite Hillary Clinton not winning the Democratic nomination in 2008, her run did leave 18 million more cracks in the ceiling to the highest-ranking public office in the US.  And it appears so did Sarah Palin, with her run for Vice President on Republican John McCain’s 2008 Presidential ticket.  After the election in 2008, it didn’t seem extraordinary for women to put their names forward to be considered for President. Michele Bachmann expressed interest and did run for President in the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary and  Sarah Palin toyed with the idea of running herself.

In the year of 2013, we have 18.5% representation of women in Congress. While there are many women’s organizations dedicated to recruiting, training and encouraging women candidates to run for office that have been instrumental in game changing the arena for women in politics like the National Women’s Political Caucus, Women’s Campaign Fund, or Emily’s List the gap is not decreasing significantly.

Why?  Current Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and Associate Professor of Government Jennifer Lawless researched this for a 2008 Brookings Institution report, “Why are Women Still  Not Running for Office?”  Her report reviews women in the highest tiers of their professional expertise Men enjoy more encouragement and confidence and support to run for office. “Women are less likely than men to be willing to endure the rigors of a political campaign. They are less likely than men to be recruited to run for office. They are less likely than men to have the freedom to reconcile work and family obligations with a political career. They are less likely than men to think they are “qualified” to run for office” the report stated.

I’ve seen this all play out in many different scenarios working on campaigns for many women candidates, volunteering in the community, and advising other women who are thinking of running for office. I know this feeling myself.

A young woman who was the Virginia Young Democrats President at the time recruited me to run for a state officer position in the Young Dems. Though I was thinking of it, I was greatly buoyed by her encouragement. Years later, I went from the state chapter leadership to the national level in the Young Democrats of America, (YDA) an organization who can count among its alumni, Congressman Barney Frank, Minority Whip and Congressman Steny Hoyer, and Congressman Jim Clyburn. I now serve as one of YDA’s National Vice Presidents and I’ve embarked on a new journey, running to be President of the Young Democrats of America.

In Facebook COO’s Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In” she discusses why she thinks women achieving leadership roles across the various sectors has stalled. The key premise in her various offered solutions is that women need to “lean in” to life’s opportunities not step back. For me, I took a deep breath and believed I had a right to take a seat at the table of leadership like anyone else. Too many women have fought for our right to vote and be considered equal citizens in society to not take that seat. So women don’t be afraid to claim that seat.

Don’t be afraid of campaigning you never know what you’re made of until you try. Turn to others who’ve done it before for help.  Go to campaign trainings.  Seek counsel from others. I’ve counseled many other fellow young women who’ve run for public office or run for party leadership positions. And many have counseled me along the way.

Studies show that women need to be asked a total of seven times before they will consider running for office. Don’t wait to be asked. Don’t get me wrong, it’s flattering to be asked and considered. But men don’t wait to be asked. Seriously, if I had a nickel for every guy I knew in college who wanted to “Guvnah of V-uhgini-ah” I’d have paid for half my tuition easy. If you have demonstrated commitment, and you think you have perspective to bring to the table and  you think you can make a difference, well by all means step up. Have some faith in yourself, because no one else will, if you don’t.

Sheryl Sandberg also emphasized the need to make your life partner a real partner. “The single most important career decision that a woman makes is whether she will have a partner and who that partner is. I don’t know of one woman in a leadership position whose life partner is not fully—and I mean fully—supportive of her career. No exceptions” I CANNOT agree more. I would not have made it this far in my life working all hours on political campaigns or traveling around the country running for a national position in a national political organization if I had not had the unyielding support of my fabulous husband. I urge fellow young woman with their eye toward public office to seek partners who are as equally supportive of their ambitions as you would be of theirs, especially straight women. Straight men for years have sought wives that are perfect “political spouses”: a steady rock who is supportive of their ambitions, and is able to spend more time helping to manage the family. Straight women, I strongly encourage you to settle for no less either, because they wouldn’t.

I often look to the past and think of the women who rose to leadership in much harder and legally restrictive times to be a woman and I am inspired by Ann Richards or Shirley Chisholm and so many others. We are the generation that has the privileges and power that the women before us never commanded. Let’s be fearless and use it.

As the firestorm over the Adria Richards story has only increased, a poem from one of my favorite artists – Alix Olson - keeps reverberating in my head.

Still we’ve tried being patient,
collected, calm, nice
trying praying, tried laying you
paying the price,
we’ve learned to scream
until our throats throbbed
what else do you do
while your cunt’s being robbed …

And I hear you saying
“subtle, sister,
less bite, more bark
you can make your point without leaving such a mark.
subtle, sister,
stop your seething,
I think we got it, I think we’re even:”

It’s a poem about feminism and anger, about why women are so abrasive and so loud and so obnoxious. And its meaning is never more relevant than when we examine the public’s response to Adria Richards.

For those just catching up, Adria Richards is a woman of color who was exhaustified by being surrounded by straight while males in the world of technology who didn’t see any need to recognize that they weren’t in a locker room. These are the kinds of men who like to make jokes about big dongles and forking, consistently going out of their way to make women feel alienated and unwelcome and unsafe in what they perceive to be their space (I’ve just linked to it, but seriously, if you haven’t read A Woman Walks Into a Tech Conference, do it right now.)

Adria turned around and tweeted a photo of the two men at this particular conference, calling them out for their sexist behavior, which also happened to be a violation of the conference’s code of conduct.  One of the men was later fired, and the internet turned against Adria.

You may be wondering what this means. This means Adria Richards has been subjected to the online trolling masses – the ones who feel that when a woman steps out of her place – a woman of color no less – it’s time to put her back. By force. This means death threats. This means rape threats. This means the most vile, hate-filled, misogynistic material you couldn’t imagine even if tracking it was part of your daily life. Richards has been “called practically every name under the sun. Some Twitter commenters demanded she kill herself.” One posted this photo of Richards tied up and gagged with the caption “Adria Richards when I’m done with her.”

Adria Richards has since been fired by her company and the internet has exploded once again.

Would I have done what Adria did?

Too many people have been phrasing their support for Adria with sentences along these lines: “I wouldn’t have done what Adria did, but she doesn’t deserve death threats.” Or “there are better ways Adria could have handled that, but I still support her.” Or “It would have been more professional for Adria to confront these men and politely ask them to stop, but she shouldn’t have been fired for her actions.” (Deanna Zandt has a great piece over at Forbes about why asking what Adria could have done differently is the wrong question because it focuses on victim-blaming in the same way as critiquing a rape victim’s clothing).

I admit it – at first, I was one of them. I’m fairly certain some of my first comments about the incident were like that. Why?

When I finally realized it, I was ashamed of myself.

The reason we are couching our support for Adria in those terms is because we want to send a message to our listeners. That message is this: “I’m a rational and reasonable person, so I totally understand where you are coming from and why you think she was wrong. But rape threats are still wrong.”

We want you to buy into us, to believe that we aren’t one of those “crazy women” who are burning our bras and marching around with signs that say Death to the Patriarchy! all day, instead of having rational and calm and informed discussion. We want men to take us seriously. We think “maybe if they realize how rational I am, they will hear me better. Maybe if they realize I respect them and I’m being polite, they will listen to what I have to say and actually try to understand.”

Let’s be clear – this method doesn’t work.

Women who stand up for themselves are constantly being told that we’re crazy. That we’re overly emotional and we’re too loud and we’re too obnoxious about our fight for equality. And it’s because of how we approach our fight for equality that we’re constantly being overpowered and shouted down and threatened and assaulted.

And yet the average person still wants to know: why can’t we just tone it down? Why are feminists so angry?

Why aren’t we softer? Why aren’t we calmer? Why aren’t we more subtle?

Simple.

We’re living in a world that hates women. And there is nothing soft, calm, or subtle about it.

A world in which rappers brag about drugging and raping women, magazines feature women solely as ornamental objects, 18 year old boys rape 13 year old girls, 28% of women on U.S. campuses are assaulted, female children are brutally killed to preserve a family’s honor, 13 year old girls are forced into prostitution, 3 woman a day are murdered in the US by husbands or boyfriends, 33% of women in the military have been sexually assaulted, rape is a weapon of war, 1 in 3 US adolescents is a victim of dating abuse, fashion outlets glamorize sexual violence, women who suggest men not rape receive rape threats . . . oh this list could go on and on and on.

I wouldn’t have done with Adria did. Not because it was the wrong way to handle it, not because her anger wasn’t deserved, not because there were more “effective” ways of handling it.

I wouldn’t have publicly called out these two men for their behavior simply because I would not have had the courage that she did.

Do People Really Respond Rationally?

I know. You think of yourself as calm and reasonable and rational. We all do. And we often wonder to ourselves, why aren’t more people like us?

But the truth is that people aren’t calm and cool and collected and gracious and polite and reasonable all the time.  And I’ll tell you who especially isn’t like that - men who are confronted with their own sexist behavior.

I know. You think you are like that. You think your friends are like that.  You think your coworkers are like that.

But none of us is as we imagine. William Halaten writes in his New York Times review of the book, The Righteous Mind,

the problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. The problem is that their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others.”

Even our personal life experiences tell us this. People do not like to be wrong. We prize rationality and reason (not coincidentally, I think, traits normally associated more with men than women), and scorn emotions and gut feelings and instinctive reaction.  And so even when we do things because of our emotions or our feelings, we convince ourselves that we are being rational. We convince ourselves that if someone interacting with us had done something a little bit differently, we would have reacted entirely differently, too.

Except life isn’t like that. I’ve even written blog posts in the past about how to calmly and rationally approach well-intentioned men about their sexism (yes, I’m kind of embarrassed about that now). But it doesn’t work.  We see this a lot in the judgement of rape victims – people who say “if she had just said “no” more clearly or more politely, I’m sure he would have stopped.” The men who were called out by Adria make the same claim – “if only she had nicely asked us to stop, we would have!”

Oh please.  Just like the rest of us, men don’t like to be wrong. Men don’t like to be denied their place of power and privilege. Don’t tell me that these two men who made Adria Richards feel unwelcome and unsafe in a public space deserve to have been spoken to politely, or asked nicely. The idea that they would have politely smiled and apologized and gone about their way is a fantasy.

It’s fiction. It’s the same people who tell me that I don’t need to hollaback! at street harassers. If I just approach them and ask them nicely not to do that, they’ll stop.

Know what? They don’t. I’ve tried. We all have. It’s not working. Men who are making jokes like that do  not deserve the courtesy of respectful, polite discourse. Men who violate women’s space do not deserve the courtesy of respectful, polite discourse. Men who try to control what happens to my body do not deserve the courtesy of respectful, polite discourse.

Not every man who makes a mistake is a sexist misogynistic jerk who deserves to be publicly called out. But please don’t call yourself a feminist or an ally if you don’t want to trust women to know the difference.

We do. We know the difference between a man who compliments us on the street and a man who is sexually harassing us. We know the difference between a man who uses a word that unintentionally offends us and a man who is embracing his privilege and actively making the world an unsafe place for women.

If Adria Richards says she knew she had to speak up because these men were clearly hiding behind deindividualization in order to make their jokes, then I trust her. If Adria Richards says she thought about it and gut-checked it and considered the code of conduct in place at this conference, then I trust her. If Adria Richards says she was going to let the whole thing go on because she was just too weary to deal with it, but that a photo of a young girl who had participated in the Young Coders workshop inspired her to take action, then I trust her. If Adria Richards says the best way to have addressed this issue was to call out their behavior, then I trust her.

So should you.

If these two men just made an honest mistake, if they really didn’t mean anything by it and truly are “good hearted” people who meant no harm and want to learn from their mistakes, then help me out here. WHERE ARE THEY?

Where is their outrage at the way Adria has been treated? Where is their public statement saying “as we’ve said, we wish she’d brought this to our attention first, but the most unfortunate thing is that she didn’t feel safe doing so. Adria didn’t feel comfortable doing so. And now it’s clear why. Adria would have had no way of knowing that we would have been accepting of her critique or request. She would have had no way of knowing that we aren’t like everyone else who has treated her with such hate and disrespect.  The fact that she didn’t feel safe is explained entirely just by seeing the vicious attacks on her, and we publicly condemn those who are attacking her.”

Where’s that statement from these poor victimized guys who totally are good people???

Adria Richards didn’t do what any of us would have done. Instead, she did what needed to be done.

Alix Olson’s poem ends by bringing to mind what is obvious to everyone who is fighting for gender equality. To everyone who has ever tried to combat rampant sexism and blatant misogyny with courtesy or respect. Anyone who has ever been told it would be better to just be more . . . subtle.

Subtle like a penis pounding its target?
Subtle like your hissing from across the street?

Subtle like the binding on my sisters’ feet?
Subtle like her belly raped with his semen,
draped in his fuck, funny,
doesn’t seem even.

See, sometimes anger’s subtle, stocked in metaphor
full of finesse and dressed in allure
Yes, sometimes anger’s subtle, less rage than sad
leaking slow through spigots you didn’t know you had.
and sometimes it’s just

fuck you.
fuck you.
you see, and to me,

That’s poetry too.

Patriarchy isn’t subtle.

Unsafe spaces for women isn’t subtle.

Misogyny and sexism aren’t subtle.

This time, Adria Richards decided that she wasn’t going to be subtle either.

*Addendum: For those who are concerned about her health and well-being, I have it confirmed that Adria is safe. She released a public statement yesterday, which you can read here. I know that you’ll be as impressed with her courage and grace as I am.

This post is originally published on Left Standing Up and it’s cross-posted with permission

Photo credit Betsy Weber via Creative Commons

Strong. Smart. Bold.

These three small words ignited a movement over 100 years ago to educate girls and prepare them to be self-sufficient and successful women.

Today, Girls Inc. is a leading youth development organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through life-changing programs and experiences that help girls navigate gender, economic, and social barriers. Research-based curricula, delivered by trained, mentoring professionals in a positive all-girl environment equip girls to achieve academically; lead healthy and physically active lives; manage money; navigate media messages; and discover an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Across the United States and Canada there are over 80 affiliate Girls Inc. organizations that are changing the lives of the girls in their communities. Here in the Big Apple, Girls Inc. of New York City (GINYC) alone reaches over 3,000 girls at 15 sites across the five boroughs.

This month in honor of Women’s History month GINYC has teamed up with eight amazing partners to inspire women to be strong, smart, and bold too! All month long we have been raffling off amazing prizes on our newly updated Facebook page to raise awareness about what we do while giving our supporters the chance to win prizes that will leave them stronger, smarter, and bolder than ever before!  

STRONG

Girls Inc. of New York City encourages girls to be physically active and healthy by participating in both traditional and nontraditional sports. In our Sporting Chance programs girls build a foundation for enjoying physical activities and adventure throughout their lives like our track team whose motto is “Prepared, Positive, Committed.” These three simple words provide the foundation for the girls as they build confidence through running and leadership.

To encourage women to unleash their STRONG we raffled off free gym passes to New York Sports Club, a self-defense class from Female Awareness, and a Sole Sisterhood premium running t-Shirt from Run Girl Run.

SMART

Girls Inc. of New York City believes girls have the right to prepare for interesting work and economic independence! From coding their own websites to investing in the stock market and starting their own businesses like Tyra, one of our 6^th grade students who makes unique gifts and favors out of duct tape, we put girls on track for successful careers.

To encourage women to unleash their SMART we raffled off prizes to inspire women to find their inner entrepreneur like 3 months off Prosite.com where you can create and customize your own personal creative portfolio website, an art deco inspired necklace from women-run and owned online jewelry boutique Peppermint Chic, and original duct tape flowers pen’s from Tyra’s DT Arrangements.

BOLD

Girls Inc. of New York City knows a community of support goes a long way!

To encourage women to unleash their BOLD we are raffling off a number of prizes to our supporters this week to connect with us more deeply like a Girls Inc. of New York City tote bag and mug, free download of our anthem I AM ME (Strong, Smart, & Bold) and new dance remix by DJ Franchella, and two free tickets to a Girls Inc. of NYC wine tasting event at Moore Brothers Wine Company where you can mix and mingle with our Junior Board to learn more about what we do while you enjoy delicious wines.

It’s not too late to enter to win! Just visit us on Facebook to enter our BOLD sweepstakes and while you’re there take a minute to be inspired by our amazing programs and girls.

We know that advancing the rights of women and girls is a job that we cannot do alone and are forever thankful for each and every person who becomes part of our community by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, or signing up for our newsletter. These small but important actions go a long way to helping us inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

Together we know that we will create a world where every woman and girl can unleash her strong, smart, bold every day!

Photo via Girls Inc of New York City.

Thanks to Sheryl Sandberg, the media is focused on the absence of women in positions of leadership and power in the corporate world. Ms. Sandberg offers many thoughtful suggestions on overcoming this situation, but makes just one very brief reference to the impediment caused by sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is in itself an obstacle to women’s success. Indeed, it is prohibited under Federal law only because it operates as a form of gender discrimination at work. How does it amount to discrimination? It results in the affected employee either leaving the workplace or remaining but being less productive and, as a consequence, jeopardizing her potential for raises or advancement.

A worker who experiences sexual harassment may be forced to choose between a professional opportunity with a lecherous creep and a position with less potential. She may find it necessary to lie about her reasons for leaving to her new employer. (Ms. Sandberg cautions that asserting legal protections may chill professional prospects. Imagine the response of a new employer who hears that the candidate is attuned to her legal rights.)

Alternatively, the worker can stay and tolerate the indignities of sexually charged remarks and actions. But if she does, the likelihood that she’ll come to work brimming with enthusiasm is diminished. Her attitude may not be the only casualty. Her productivity may decline, and she may spend more time out of the office. Her health may be affected. Women who experience sexual harassment suffer from physical ailments caused by stress and depression.

Women’s right to be free of discrimination at work was established in the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but sexual harassment wasn’t viewed as violating this right until much later. Sexual harassment as a form of discrimination was first considered in 1974 when a court found that termination of a female employee for rejecting sexual advances did not violate Title VII.  This decision was overturned in 1976, and in 1980 the federal agency charged with enforcing the Civil Rights Act issued guidelines recognizing sexual harassment as a form of gender bias.

Thirty-two years later sexual harassment remains a common problem.  Studies show that between 50 and 85 percent of women experience it during their careers. Regardless of seniority or career accomplishments, no woman is exempt from sexual harassment. Attorneys, nurses, waitresses and investment bankers are just a few of those who’ve filed sexual harassment claims recently.

Sexual harassment is not about sex. It is about power. It is a tool of male privilege to intimidate women in the workplace, to keep them out of positions of power and leadership. Psychologist John Gottman said, “Sexual harassment is a subtle rape, and rape is more about fear than sex. Harassment is a way for a man to make a woman vulnerable.”

If you believe you have been sexually harassed, you should take the following steps:

1. Say “no” or object to your treatment clearly. Better to say you’re not interested in dating than to say you’re busy. If the harassment takes the form of crude jokes, say “I find that offensive.” If the harassment doesn’t stop, write the harasser a letter or e-mail requesting that he stop, and keep a copy.

2.  Write down specifics of what happened, including the date, place, offensive conduct, and possible witnesses. If there are witnesses, ask them to write up the incident, too. Do this for each instance. Because your claim may boil down to he said, she said, this step is vitally important to enhance your credibility. The written record should not be kept at work.

3. Report the harassment to your supervisor, the human relations department, or other appropriate authority at work. Make the report in writing if possible. This step is particularly important if the person harassing you is a co-worker, client, or customer, because the employer may be unaware of what is happening. Make notes about your meeting.

4. Avoid the temptation to talk about the situation with friends or others at work. You could be subject to a defamation claim. If you need a sympathetic ear, call the job survival helpline maintained by 9 to 5, an organization for working women. RAINN also maintains a hotline for victims of sexual assault (any non-consensual sexual touching).

5. Continue to keep a written record, including the notes described in step two above, copies of all correspondence, and notes of any meetings about your complaint.

6. Review your personnel file. In some states, you have a legal right to make a copy of its contents.

7. Follow whatever “official” procedure your company has for handling sexual harassment complaints. Find it in your employee manual or ask human relations.

8. As these steps escalate, you may suffer physical or psychological damage. See your doctor for help and documentation.

9. Involve your union if you’re unionized.

10. File a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency, or with your state’s fair employment agency. The EEOC hotline is 800-669-4000. Be prompt! The deadline for filing your complaint may be as soon as 180 days from the act of harassment.

11. File a private lawsuit after you have filed with a governmental agency. You can ask a court for money damages, to reinstate you in your job, or to force your employer to adopt practices that would deter future harassment. Because a determination of sexual harassment rests on the facts of each case, an experienced attorney can best evaluate the merits of your claim.

12. Prepare yourself for the results of taking these steps. Your employer may retaliate. You may have trouble finding another job; you may be branded a troublemaker; you may be shunned by other workers (including women); you may open up your personal life to scrutiny by others; you may incur legal fees; and you may feel anxious, isolated, and depressed. Consider joining a support group.

It takes courage and determination to pursue a sexual harassment claim.

Katie is the author of a legal suspense novel Terminal Ambition, which is available on Amazon.com.  She is an advocate for women and she tweets from k8mcguinness.

photo credit: Olivander via photopin cc

“Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.”*  During his State of the Union Address, President Obama again reiterated his economic equality message that he eloquently spoke about in his inaugural address and on the campaign trail. His intent is clear. Congress should vote to pass and implement the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The Paycheck Fairness Act builds upon the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and closes loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act.  And while not a panacea, it is another tool at a worker’s disposal to challenge income disparity in the workplace itself while putting employers on notice that it’s no longer socially and culturally acceptable to pay women less for the same exact work.

The act would make it easier for those who are the targets of wage discrimination to address the issue, while allowing employees to disclose salary information with co-workers without fear of retaliation. The key bit is that employers would be required to show that any wage discrepancies are based on genuine business requirements and are related to specific characteristics of the position that are not based on the employee’s sex.

The empirical evidence is clear.  Women earned 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man, while the corresponding ratios were 61 cents for African-American women and 52 cents for Hispanic women as compared to wages of white males. There is ample empirical evidence that shows that women, despite degrees, experience, and qualifications are underpaid compared to men at every point in our lives and that the wage gap has us loosing $400,000 over a lifetime of work!

Passing this bill will not be easy. It’s been introduced and defeated a number of times in the past but we need to keep advocating and talking about how this impacts us.  Paycheck fairness is not just a ‘women’s issue’ but an economic issue that effects the bottom line of every household in our country. More and more, women head households and are the main breadwinners.

The social and cultural shift the Paycheck Fairness Act would provide cannot be underestimated. It would send a clear signal that women’s work is valuable and necessary. And that we expect to be compensated equally for our equal  time and effort.  Work that women perform is not a click above volunteering and a few clicks below the ‘real’ work that men do. The amount a woman loses to the pay gap could feed a family of four for 37 years.

Conservatives like to repeat the myths that women ‘chose’ lower paying careers and jobs and also ‘opt out’ of the workforce to perform caretaking roles. The evidence clearly shows though that at every step along her career, she will earn less. The pay gap starts early. One year out of college, women make 82 cents for every dollar earned by their male peers for doing similar work. A woman’s pay, on average, stops growing when she turns 39. For men, wage growth doesn’t stop until age 48.

National Women’s Law Center has a great myth and facts guide on the act along with other resources. Pass this stuff on.

Pen this in. April 9, 2013  pay equity day. This day symbolizes how long a woman must work in 2013 to earn equal what a man was given in 2012.  Keep talking about the Paycheck Fairness Act.  Call and write to your Congresscritters and tell them how this bill affects you personally.  Let’s keep the pressure on for another win for workers!

* Yes, I hope President Obama reframes this important message, but I think his intent is meant well and made in good faith.

Mary Robinson: highly educated, civil and human rights campaigner, feminist, passionate, driven, courageous and the first female President of Ireland.  The more you learn about her the more you cannot help but admire her.  Throughout her life she has never been afraid to stand up for what she believes in and was at the root of most of the social changes in Ireland.

She studied in Trinity College and Harvard University.  In 1969 at the age of 25 not only she became Ireland’s youngest professor of law when she was appointed Reid Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law at Trinity College, she also stood for and was elected to the Senate where she remained for 20 years (while still practicing law), this started her on a semi-rocky road to try and bring Ireland into the 20^th century.  She wanted to push reform bills through the Senate regarding contraception, abortion, adoption, the rights of women and homosexuality.  She received some hate mail and bad press for her efforts but this did not stop her.  She was more than happy to take on cases for women who wanted to go to court for a number of discriminations.  This included Josie Airey in the late 1970’s, as a result of this case Ireland started to provide free legal aid in family law which was not available before and it was a breakthrough in Irish marital law reform.

In 1989 she left the Senate but was eventually persuaded to run for President.  Until then Ireland had never had a female President or a President who had not been a member of a political party.  Although she was backed by a political party she ran as an independent and when she eventually won the election she distanced herself from them and their politics even more.

On her presidency she said:

“I was elected…above all by the women of Ireland, mná na hÉireann, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system and who came out massively to make their mark on the ballot paper and on a new Ireland”

The mná na hÉireann (women of Ireland) were not forgotten even in her inaugural speech:

“As a woman, I want the women who have felt themselves outside history to be written back into history”

During her presidency she occasionally went against the wishes of the then Taoiseach (Ireland’s equivalent to a Prime Minister) in 1991 she met the Dali Lama.  She felt that as a campaigner for human rights it was something that she had to do.  Also controversially in 1993 she met and shook hands with Gerry Adams the Sinn Féin President and made an official visit to Queen Elizabeth in London.  She was the first Irish President to do this.

In 1997 while coming to the end of her term as President she decided not to go for a second term instead she took a post as UN high commissioner for human rights after being nominated for it by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  In doing so she had to resign as Irish President 10 weeks before her term was due to end, this would be something she would later be regretful of.  As high commissioner she traveled to numerous countries including China promoting human rights, her term ended in 2002.  After that she went to New York where she started up an advocacy group Realizing Rights it ceased operating in 2010 but their mission was “to put human rights standards at the heart of global governance and policy-making and to ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage”.

Her latest initiative is The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ).  It is

“a centre for thought leadership, education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those people vulnerable to the impacts of climate change who are usually forgotten – the poor, the disempowered and the marginalised across the world.”

The foundation wants to develop a universal concept of climate justice.  It links human rights with the impact of climate change so it is not just seen as an ‘environmental’ issue.  The world’s resources are being depleted in a very uneven and unfair way.  This depletion is having a negative effect on the world’s poorest countries.  The foundation wants “the benefits and burdens associated with climate change and its resolution fairly allocated.”  The foundation and Mary are truly passionate about this cause.

It is hard not to be impressed by Mary Robinson and all she has accomplished in her life even if it is just reading about it in a few short paragraphs.  She did so much for Ireland before, during and after her time as President and she continues to do so much for people all over the world who are in need of help.  Bhí sí ana inspioráideach – she is very inspiring.

 Photo credit: Oxfarm International via Creative Commons 

No one would be surprised to learn that a person who happened to be a lawyer broke the law. Acting in their personal capacities, lawyers commit the same variety of crimes that other citizens do, ranging from fraud to rape to murder. But when lawyers manage their own businesses, their own law firms, they should be expected to obey the law.

Often, they don’t — especially when the law mandates equal treatment for female employees. A class action law suit filed earlier this week calls into question a major law firm’s compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Francine Griesing filed a $200 million class action law suit against her former law firm, Greenberg Traurig, alleging that the firm discriminated against her and other female lawyers in its Philadelphia office because of their gender. Greenberg Traurig is one of the nation’s 200 largest law firms, and Ms. Griesing was a partner there from 2007 to 2010.

Ms. Griesing claims that many women partners received less compensation than did men with similar accomplishments. According to her law suit, there was only one exception to the inferior treatment afforded female partners: “GT [Greenberg Traurig] prioritizes, pays and promotes women who have intimate relationships with firm leaders or who acquiesce to sexualized stereotypes.”

The truth of these allegations will be determined by the trier of fact — either a jury as Ms. Griesing has requested or an arbitration panel as the firm prefers. I have no knowledge of whether the claims are true or not, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated them and found ”reasonable cause” to support class-wide claims of gender discrimination in compensation.

What’s more interesting than Ms. Griesing’s accusations against Greenberg Traurig is the possibility that this suit will inspire other women to sue the firms where they work on similar grounds. When asked if other law firms should be concerned, one of the lawyers representing Ms. Griesing said, “I have no doubt that the EEOC would come to a similar conclusion in other cases. It’s a systemic problem in many law firms. But you have to look at the statistics of a firm and its history.”

The percentage of female equity partners is a key statistic. (Equity partners are those with an ownership interest, receive the largest compensation and determine policy.) Although females have provided much of the brainpower for law firms since the 1980s, the number of female equity partners in the nation’s 200 largest law firms has hovered around 15 percent for the last twenty years. The percentage of female non-equity or income partners is approximately 26 percent.

These numbers are especially troubling given women have constituted at least 40 percent of enrolled law students since 1985 and reached a high of 50 percent in 1999. Women’s representation in either class of partners is far below their representation as worker bees.

The number of women entering these large firms after graduation has dropped; they now constitute only 45 percent of new associates. I suspect the decrease is a result of women abandoning the hope of ever grabbing the gold ring or even getting a fair shake. Perhaps Ms. Griesing’s suit will cause law firms to consider their treatment of women more critically.

This post was originally published on The Huffington Post.  It is cross-posted with permission.

Photo credit Sanford Heisler LLP.

It’s here!  I can’t believe tomorrow is finally Election Day.  By now you’re probably exhausted from all of the pleas for your vote.  I know I am.  But hopefully you’ve already registered and, if you didn’t vote early or by absentee, you plan to vote tomorrow at a polling station.  Well if you’re tired of being asked to vote and already plan to, ask someone else to vote!  You could also volunteer to knock on doors, tweet, post an article to Facebook, make phones calls, do whatever you can.  The possibilities for activism are endless, and crucial when there are still people out there who are apathetic, discouraged, or not making it a priority to vote for whatever reason.  I couldn’t convince my 19-year-old brother to vote, but maybe there’s still time to convince the undecided 19-year-old you know!  Every vote counts.

Women and all who love women seriously need to rock the vote tomorrow and protect our rights!  We know what’s at stake.  If you’re still convincing someone to vote, and also don’t forget to vote for marriage equality in the states where it’s on the ballot, here are a plethora of posts from Fem2pt0 for you to share with someone right now:

• Undecided Women, Don’t be Fooled: Your Control of Birth IS ABOUT Jobs
• What Women Want 2012: A YWCA USA National Survey of Priorities and Concerns
• Do Women’s Reasons for Having Abortions Matter? No…and Yes, and Here’s Why
• Pandering and Lip Service Not Required: Romney Isn’t A Mystery On Women’s Issues
• Is it Your Body or Not? Draw The Line, People
• #Motherfkd: Economy Will Suffer If People Cannot Plan Parenthood
• Women: A Helpful Chart for Determining What to Trade Your Fundamental Rights For
• Legislators: Women Are Not Cows and Pigs
• Todd Akin: It’s Not a War on Women. It’s a War on Critical Thinking and Democracy
• 10 Tips for Avoiding Jail When You’re Pregnant

And one more time… VOTE!

Photo credit Theresa Thompson via the Creative Commons License.

50 years ago, women attending college wasn’t nearly as commonplace as it is these days.  And if they did, nine times out of ten it was only for them to get their “MRS” degree. For those of you unfamiliar with this degree plan, it’s when a woman goes to college not to pursue any educational pursuits or ambitions, but to find a man actively pursuing his, marry him and then proceed to live out her days as a devoted wife and mother.

Before I go any further, I want to stress that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing this if it’s really what your heart desires.  Some people long to do nothing more and nothing less than raise a family—and that’s nothing to scoff at.  Parenting is the toughest gig in the world. You’re in complete control of another human’s existence, and you don’t get to take a vacation from it.  If that’s not overwhelming then I don’t know what is.

Opting to be a homemaker because your husband and others around you deem his professional endeavors more worthwhile than yours is where we start to have problems.  The “MRS” system implied that things HAD to be a certain way. The woman was supposed to give up her hopes and dreams to find a man because God forbid she end up alone and possibly INDEPENDENT…OH MY! Luckily for me and future generations of free-thinking women everywhere the times have changed.

At colleges across the globe women are studying everything from aerospace engineering to elementary education. Our interests and talents are far and wide and our involvement on university campuses reflects that.

More women than ever before are enrolled in school and pursuing higher education, and not only that, they are said to be outnumbering their male counterparts. According to the U.S. Department of Education 12.1 million women were enrolled in a degree-granting institution compared to just 9.1 million men. Compare that to statistics from 1970, which showed male, female enrollment at 5 million and 3.5 million, respectively.

Talk about changing tides. Data also revealed that women are gaining ground in traditionally male-dominated fields such as business and math-based disciplines.  So, not only are they getting at home on campus, girls are branching out of their traditional comfort zones, likely in an attempt to remain competitive in this fierce economy.

Another way women are striving to stay employable is by gaining not only bachelor’s but masters and doctorate degrees as well.  In the last few years, statistics have shown that women have consistently earned the majority of masters and doctorate degrees. That’s an impressive accomplishment when you look at where they were just 30 years prior.

However, amidst all of this progress, there is still one area where women have yet to surpass men, and that is in the realm of equal compensation.  A year out of college, women are said to be earning 80 percent less than their male counterparts. Some say it’s partially because of the tendency for women to go for professions that historically pay less, but analysts says that’s not enough to account for the immense pay gap.

News like this is nothing but discouraging. What does this teach the present and future generations of women? That their work and effort is not valued? That they still need a “man” to succeed and thrive? Whatever the cause, we can all agree it’s sending a conflicting message to our planet’s female population—both young and old.

Women and men alike need to unite and stand for equality together, because until someone stands up to the broken system, what hope do we have of it changing?

Maria Rainier is a freelance blogger and writer for several educational websites and regularly updates an online degrees blog. Maria believes that online degrees and online universities are the future of higher learning. She is interested in all things concerned with higher education and is particularly passionate about life after college. Please share your comments with her.

Photo credit NazarethCollege via the Creative Commons License.