Over the last 48 hours, Margaret Thatcher, Annette Funicello, and Lilly Pulitzer, all passed. About the only traits they share is that they were all successful women who forged their way in a man’s world.
While I’m not about to try to defend Thatcher’s politics because I disagreed with much of what she did, I did admire how she maneuvered her way through a roomful of men, some of whom probably wanted her to bring them coffee much more than they wanted to hear her dictate policy. She must have felt very alone a lot of the time.
We’ve come a long way, baby, but I’m still stunned by how far women are in power positions. Just to put it into perspective, in 2011, there were only 12 female CEOs among the Fortune 500. TWELVE. How is it even statistically possible for the number to be so low? That’s a lot of un-utilized brain power.
A 2010 Time magazine article states that women earn 77 cents for every $1 a man earns (and I doubt that’s changed in the last few years). That was for Caucasians. The disparity was even greater for African American women: 68 cents, and for Latinas: 58 cents.)
The poverty gap between men and women is greater in America than anywhere else in the Western world, according to Center for American Progress.
While I celebrate the accomplishments of women like Thatcher, Pulitzer and Funicello, we’ve got a long, long way to go.
Today's $10 goes to the National Organization for Women. I first joined them when I was a teenager, but haven't given to them in a very long time. Time to start again.
April 8: National Organization for Women
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98 down, 267 to go.
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