Still a long way to go

Today is the birthday of Susan B. Anthony. Let each woman (and each man) say, "Thank you."

Yes, women have the right to vote.
Yes, women have served and are serving as U.S. Secretary of State.
Yes, a woman has served as Speaker of the House.
Yes, women have ran as serious presidential candidates.
Yes, women lead some major companies.

Yet, how far do we still have to go?

There is a wonderful documentary that I saw recently called "MISS-REPRESENTATION" (Great title). The film explores how the media still portrays women more from their sexuality than their intelligence; more from their looks than their lives. This film was recently released and in light of all the "yes's" mentioned above.

While driving home this evening, I was listening to a local sports talk show (no shocker there) yet, what really drew me into the show was the young, male talk show host discussing his disdain for the recently released "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition and how degrading it is to women. I almost had to pull the car over.

The next line of conversation, turned to female athletes (a round of applause for Title IX) and how they are still more celebrated for their beauty and physical attractiveness than for how many goals they score, points they average, and championships they win.

One of the callers, a 50 year old troglodyte (too harsh?) made the comment, "Women will always be viewed based on their sexuality and men will always be viewed based on their athleticism." At that point, I did pull the car over.

It is telling, that many, many countries have elected a female president or prime minister and in the USA only 17 (out of 100) women serve in the Senate and 76 (out of 435) serve in the House of Representatives.

How far do we still need to journey?
Are we up for the journey?
Does the journey still matter?

sj;