March Is Women’s History Month, celebrating our milestones throughout time and measuring up where we are now.
Radio commmentator Rush Limbaugh kicked off Women’s Month by denouncing women’s efforts to have contraception covered by health insurance. His remarks were ugly and shocking. Just when you think women are making progress, some loud mouth pundit speaks up and you have to ask, “Are we really making progress?”
Most insurance policies cover Viagra. So men’s erections are covered by health insurance enabling them to have more sex. But women have to pay up to protect themselves or pay the price of an unwanted pregnancy. I just don’t get it! I never have. For 32 years I was on the birth control pill at an average of $25 a month. That’s $9600. Much of that time I was on the Pill not for birth control but to control my hormones which were causing me acne flareups. Even with a dermatologist’s prescription, I could not get coverage for the Pill. I wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot. If men carried the child for nine months, would it be different?
March 8th is International Women’s Day. How will you celebrate?
I am proud of the accomplishments women have made in the last century in our country, although I cannot say that for some other countries. I cannot imagine what it it would be like not to be able to vote, not to be able to hold a job, not to be able to secure a bank loan to start a company, not to be able to move about and travel freely, not to be able to dress how I want, say what I feel, and embrace new experiences without restriction. I made a personal decision not to have children and I cannot imagine what it would be like not to have that choice. I am grateful that I found my husband and a marriage was not arranged for me. And I am especially grateful that women today have the spirit and support for each other to speak up, rally and raise money for women’s health, education and protection, because I would not count on men to do it for us.
I am grateful that I can make choices, that I can truly be a choosy woman.
But that’s not the case everywhere, and I am a minority. We still have alot of work to be done. So, in celebration of International Womens Day, I made my own proclamation of what would make a difference for women in years to come. Feel free to weigh in and add to the list.
1. When women have the right to choose how they want to live their lives and are treated as equals to men in intelligence, talent and earning power we can truly celebrate.
2. When women’s reproductive rights are treated by health insurance with the same consideration as a man’s right to have the ability to help them reproduce, we can truly celebrate
3. When all women truly have the right to choose if and when they want to have children, who and when they will marry we can truly celebrate.
4. When women can apply for the same job as a man, be treated with the same discretion and receive the same level of pay, and be offered the same levels of career advancement we can truly celebrate.
5. When women, especially young women, can look at themselves in the mirror, love what they see and realize that beauty really does come from within, we can truly celebrate.
6. When young women learn to treat each other with respect and not bully each other or try to compete or measure up to build their confidence, we can truly celebrate.
7. When violence against women stops, and a woman does not have to live in fear that she will be taunted, stoned, beaten, mutilated, raped or killed, we can truly celebrate.
8. When, around the world, all women have the ability to have a voice and express themselves freely, we can truly celebrate.
9. When the statistics for the leading causes of death among women are reduced (#1 is heart disease) and deaths from breast, ovarian and cervical cancer and reduced, we can truly celebrate.
10. When the word “rape” is removed from society and the dictionary, we can truly celebrate.
In the Bible, Eve was created from Adam’s rib to be at his side as an equal, not his kneecap to be underfoot.
In honor of International Women’s Day March 8, I am going to reach out to 8 women who touched my lives to tell them thank you. I am going to share this blog post with them and hope they will pass it along. We can choose our words. We can choose our actions. We can choose to make a difference. We just need to act upon it.
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp
