why we need equal rights

How many of us take it for granted that we ARE equal? that women are paid the same? not overlooked for the good ol boy network? it is 2010 after all... more than 234 years since  the colonies began building America, and eventually challenging King George,  these rights still have not emerged. 

Werent they here growing crops, raising children and cooking, harvesting, facing the same wilderness and tibulations?  It has not changed across the centuries. Women still are second class citizens.

Our wilderness is now a concrete jungle, suburban prisons with sometimes abusive men who totally alienates and demeans women. Poor women fare even worse than the middle class because of lack of education, facilities for childcare and so on.  Single, working class moms who are forced into the work force, often cant  afford reliable childcare on the types of salaries they receive ( that are less than their male counterparts). Some widowed, some abandoned, some divorced for whatever reason, are forced to be the sole support of their children.

Click the link below for the full article....

Dont Women have equal rights already?
Don't women have equal rights already -- just like men? Aren't we guaranteed equal rights in the Constitution?


The answer to every single question above is 'no.'
As the following facts about women reveal, women's issues continue to matter because a huge gender gap exists in the U.S. And despite what many may think, we do not lead the world in gender equity for women. In fact, we're not even in the top ten.

Drawn from a cross-section of economic, social, and political concerns, these top 10 facts about women convey the enormity of the gap between men and women, and why focusing on women's issues and drawing attention to them is our best chance of closing the gap:

1.Women earn 78 cents for every dollar a man makes

2.Only 17% of the seats in Congress are held by women.

3.One out of every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

4.One out of every six women will be sexually assaulted and/or raped in her lifetime.

5.Although 48% of law school graduates and 45% of law firm associates are female, women make up only 22% of federal-level and 26% of state-level judgeships.

6.Even in the 10 top paying jobs for women, females earn less than men; only one career -- speech pathology -- pays the same regardless of gender.

7.It's not any better at the top. America's top female CEOs earn, on average, 33 cents for every dollar earned by a male CEO.

8.There's nothing in the U.S. Constitution that guarantees women the same rights as a man. Despite attempts to add an Equal Rights Amendment, there is no guarantee of equal rights for women in any legal document or any piece of legislation.

9.Despite previous attempts to ratify a UN treaty guaranteeing the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the U.S. refuses to support an international bill of rights for women signed by nearly every other nation on the planet.

10.The World Economic Forum's 2009 report on the Global Gender Gap ranked 134 countries for gender parity. The U.S. didn't even make the top 10 -- it came in at number 31.

What is the Equal Rights Amendment?

I thought this was a great concise answer to start with.  Many young women take for granted the "equality" we have here in America, which is better than most countries, but still lacking in equality. 

Because we are born  American we are allowed a few more liberties in speaking up, making changes and staying safe ( sort of ) whilst trying to change things.  In a later article I will discuss and give links to rights for women in other countries...especially in Muslim majority countries where honor killing and punishments like canings are the norm.  For now lets focus on America.

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Question: What is the Equal Rights Amendment or ERA?


Proposed and passed by Congress but never ratified by the necessary number of states, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) affirms equal justice under the law to all citizens by guaranteeing freedom from sex discrimination. It was the brainchild of suffragist Alice Paul, founder of the National Women's Party, who wrote the ERA in 1923 as follow-up to the 19th amendment (granting women the right to vote.) Paul believed the ERA was the next necessary step to secure and codify women's rights in the U.S.
 
Answer: First brought before Congress in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment has been introduced into every session of Congress between 1923 and 1972. In its original form, the ERA advocated for the end of gender bias in 18 short words:


Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.

Support for the ERA could be found in the party platforms of both the Republicans and the Democrats by the time Paul rewrote the amendment in 1943:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Despite nearly 50 years of inaction, a reworked version of the Equal Rights Amendment was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in 1972 as the proposed 27th amendment to the Constitution. The ERA now included three sections:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.


Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.



On March 22, 1972, the ERA was sent to the states for further action. For the amendment to become law, three-quarters of the states needed to ratify the ERA within a 7-year time frame. Although reaching the magic number of 38 states initially seemed likely, strong opposition to the ERA surfaced among far-right religious groups, states' rights advocates, businesses, and other traditional organizations. By 1977 only 35 states had ratified the ERA. After much public pressure, Congress extended the deadline for ratification to June 30, 1982. However, the tide had already turned by 1980 when the Republican Party removed support for the ERA from its platform. That same year, the election of Ronald Reagan as president ushered in a significantly more conservative era.

Two weeks after it failed to gain ratification by the necessary 38 states, the ERA was again reintroduced in Congress on July 14, 1982, and continued to be introduced in every session of Congress.


The 7-year time frame is no longer an issue in more recent versions of the ERA. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) introduced a deadline-free ERA in the Senate and House respectively in the 110th Congress.

With the 2008 election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, many feel that the time is right for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. At an awards ceremony sponsored by the National Women's Political Caucus on July 14, 2009, Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced her intent to reintroduce the ERA in Congress on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, telling the assembled audience, "If we can get it to the floor, it can pass."



Sources:


Francis, Roberta W. "The History Behind the Equal Rights Amendment." EqualRightsAmendment.org, retrieved July 20, 2009.

ERA Campaign for updates from 2008 and 2009
excerpt:
 
how you can help
REACH KEY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WITH YOUR PRO-ERA MESSAGE :




· Contact Rep.Carolyn Maloney (2332 Rayburn HOB, Washington DC 20515-3214, fax 202-225-4709), chief sponsor of the “start-over” Equal Rights Amendment (that she usually calls the Women’s Equality Amendment) resolution in the House of Representatives. Urge her to reintroduce it in March as she has done in the past, and to press forward to win the necessary two-thirds House vote to approve it.



· Contact Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives (Office of the Speaker, H-232, US Capitol, Washington DC 20513-3214, phone 202-225-0100, or leave a message on http://speaker.house.gov/contact). Urge her to facilitate the progress of the ERA/WEA resolution so that it will be passed as soon as possible.



· Contact Representative Robert Andrews (2439 Rayburn HOB, Washington DC 20515, phone 202-225-6501). Urge him to reintroduce his resolution in support of the 3-state strategy, requiring the House of Representatives to take any legislative action necessary to verify the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment as part of the Constitution when the legislatures of an additional three states ratify it.



· Contact Senator Edward Kennedy (317 Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington DC 20510, telephone 202-224-4543, or send him a message online at http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm.) Urge him to reintroduce the ERA/WEA in the Senate in March, as he has done in the past, and press forward to achieve the two-thirds Senate vote needed to to pass it.



· Contact Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (phone 202-224-3542, fax 202-224-7327, 522 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington DC 20510). Urge him to facilitate the progress of the ERA/WEA resolution in order to get it passed as soon as possible.



· Note: None of the above congressional resolutions, if and when passed, will incur any costs to the US government or the taxpayers.



HELP THE NOT-YET-RATIFIED STATES:



If you live in, or are particularly interested in, one (or more) of the following not-yet ratified states, contact the state’s ERA leader or organization for guidance as to how best to help their ongoing campaign to achieve their state’s ratification of the ERA while the mood of the country is on our side:



· ARKANSAS, where Rep. Lindsley Smith of the state’s legislature, whose resolution proposing state ratification of the ERA was narrowly defeated in committee during the 2007 session, plans to bring back the resolution during the upcoming 2009 session, saying, “I’ve had legislators who’ve questioned it in the past say, ‘Hey, I’m going to support it this time’….I think everything’s in line to pass it in the 2009 session.” Contact Berta Seitz, BertaSeitz@att.net, phone 479-442-6256.



· FLORIDA, where hard-fought efforts to achieve ratification continue unabated, with high hopes for major progress this year. Contact Sandy Oestreich, SandyJOestreich@cs.com, phone 727-393-0932, website www.RatifyERAflorida.net. Note: The Florida effort is in special need of donations.



· GEORGIA, where there are ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the ERA and build political support for the amendment, contact Idella Moore of 4ERA, info@4ERA/org, phone 678-793-6965, website www.4ERA.org.



· ILLINOIS, where legislator Lou Lang has pre-filed the ERA bill, Hjrca003, in their House of Representatives, and ERA activists are moving ahead vigorously for ERA ratification in this (2009) session. Contact Emily Battin, Emily1@consolidated.net, phone 217-229-3754.



· LOUISIANA, another state where ERA activists have high hopes for ratification soon. Contact Sandra Hufstetler of ERA Louisiana, shufstetler@i-55.com, phone 985-345-3001.



· MISSOURI, where the current effort is focused particularly on working to get pro-ERA women elected to the state legislature, contact Shirley Breeze, chair of the Missouri Women’s

Is thisThe Equality We Fought for?

I was urged on by the CNN report about epidemic violence towards women (because the death of Annie Le) so I started poking around the internet this is what I found:

Women are more likely to be assaulted or killed by an intimate partner, especially after they end the relationship. Men do have violent crimes committed against them by female partners but at a rate of a mere fraction of women's rates.

This post came about because I got my MRI report for my brain scan yesterday. It wasn't what I expected. I never think anything bad is going to happen to me, that others get those bad news and trials. The problem with denial is you dont know it when you have it. Regardless, I think some of the injuries I sustained from sticking around a cretin named Andy have caught up with me. Being kicked in the head, or slammed against walls or cement floors apparently causes real damage that can do real damage for life. I am pissed off at myself for helping cause that situation. ( I picked his stupid ass and couldnt get away for years)

How many examples do we see in films and "entertainment" of women as the victims... slasher flicks, violent, aggressive (rape fetish, bondage, kidnapping etc) porn both in print, film and the internet. Glamorizing sexuality and violence, equating the two in some pre adolescent's brain sets a chemical reaction in his brain. Eventually the boys grow into men without many manners or empathy. Somehow the objectification of women has become the norm in our society. IMO, both sides are guilty of the path we are stumbling down. Ultimately, the older ones need to take the kids under our wings and teach them what it means to be a man or a woman. Take a stand. Let the stations or Hollywood know what you think of their choices.


Worse still, some women help perpetuate this disgusting treatment of our women and children ( future women) by dancing naked for men, getting drunk or drugged up so they can tolerate their "jobs". Most of them tell you they are doing it to pay for graduate school. Can't you imagine how proud Or seeking a man to take care of them, rather than getting an education and supporting herself at least until marriage.

It demeans all the effort of the strong women before us. Imagine how hard Margret Sanger or Susan B Anthony fought to break the stereotyping of women, to get us the right to control our reproductive rights, our right to vote? How do we repay it? Buying see thru shirts and hot pants to walk down the mall cus it is our "right" to look like a brainless tramp, reveling in the leers of cretins who cannot fathom what it means to be a man like having a job and being responsible members of society.

It appears to me that we are just walking breeders or sex objects. I was guilty of this as well when I was younger. I developed physically and I liked the way men paid attention to me, I was 'heard' for the first time and I bought into that lie of our fairy tales and Barbie doll life. Men would be my salvation, my refuge. So How would I catch one? keep a man? with my sex appeal, flirting and breasts of course! Who needs to be smart and independent? No wonder I picked idiots and settled for less. The lesson I learned was that I can't expect decent men to pay attention to me because I did not value myself for who I was not for what was between my legs.


We teach men how to treat us. we allow men to get away with bad behavior and excuse it as they are just wired that way, or that we deserve the treatment that we get. But If it were our daughters would we be so passive?