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Women And Public Office

Mar 10, 2016
by Caroline Miller
abortion rights, Betsy Fischer Martin, gender equality, Iran's discrimination against women, Sirin Ebadi, women in public office, women's rights
2 Comments

Though male legislators in state after state in America continue to write laws restricting a woman’s right to end a pregnancy, some of our sex continue to insist gender has no place when considering a candidate for public office.   Can they really be so complacent? Inequality lies all around us.  Start with the simple things.  Compare the price of a woman’s tee shirt, a pair of jeans or skin lotion to what a man pays for comparable items.  Consider that several states with a sales tax treat tampons and sanitary napkins as luxury items.  Equal pay?  Don’t get me started.

Any woman who imagines the status quo is good enough is not only permitting herself to take a seat at the back of the bus, but she’s reserving one for her daughter. Life doesn’t stand still. The lines of progress change.  We have only to witness the status of once liberated women in Iran.

Sirin Ebadi was a respected judge in her country, but after the revolution,  she lost her judgeship because she was a woman.  Being resilient, she picked herself up and became a legal defense attorney for others who were deposed by the new regime.  For her work, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.  Unfortunately the recognition did more harm than good.   She was forced to escape to England. (“Taking on a tyrannical government—and winning,” by Betsy Fischer Martin, More, March 2016, pgs. 42-43.)

In her absence,  Iran’s oppression of women continues.  A female’s testimony in court is worth half that of a man’s.  The nation has one woman ambassador, the first since 1979, but she is unable to leave the country without her husband’s permission. (Ibid. pg. 43)

Ebadi believes “the advancement of human rights in every country depends on its women.” (Ibid pg. 43.)  She looks to the west, particularly those in the United States to play their part by “providing loudspeakers” for gender equality.  (Ibid pg. 43.)  I wish I could give  her hope.   But how can I have any myself when too many of our sisters fail to see that we, too, wear veils.  We use them to cover our eyes.  That way we may remain comfortably blind to our inequality.  That way we may embrace the notion that a woman’s leadership is unimportant.

Muslim women

Courtesy of truthandgrace.com

 

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2 Comments
  1. Susan March 10, 2016 at 3:16 pm Reply
    Interesting point about women of India changing the face of government. You make a good the point that gender is a factor in leadership, and not merely an irrelevancy of birth. As you point out, of course, women are first and foremost individuals and how they approach leadership isn't the same. But those who broke the glass ceilings early, played alone in a man's game. That affected their approach. Thatcher being one. Indra Gandhi and Israel's Golda Meir being two others. Had they lived in a world where more women had leadership roles,their approaches might have been different. That's another reason to support women in office. If we want a clear example of how objectives shift when women in numbers have a voice, we have only to look at our current Supreme Court.
    • Caroline Miller March 10, 2016 at 4:39 pm Reply
      Interesting point about Women of India changing the face of government. You make a good the point that gender is a factor in leadership. and not merely an irrelevancy of birth. As you point out, of course, women are first and foremost individuals and how they approach leadership isn't the same. But those who broke the glass ceilings early, played alone in a man's game. That affected their approach. Thatcher being one. Indra Gandhi and Israel's Golda Maier, being another. Had they lived in a world where more women had leadership roles,their approaches might have been different. Another reason to support women in office. If we want a clear example of how objectives shift when women have a voice in numbers, we have only to look at our current Supreme Court.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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