international women's day eve

Tomorrow is International Women's Day. I don't really know what that means, because to tell you the truth, being a steadfast progressive feminist whose job it is to be a feminist researcher, every day is women's day for me. But I'm glad that the world has decided to use this day to think about women, the progress made towards gender equity and civil rights for all sexes, the failures, and the work that there is left to be done.

I would try to be more positive...but, holy crap, is there work left to be done.

Yesterday, I went to a panel discussion at the beautiful Sewall-Belmont House on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where a few researchers debated single-sex public education. At some point, Christina Hoff Sommers, a well-known (and in my opinion, ridiculously offensive) critic of 20th-century feminism, said something suggesting that there are few women in fields such as engineering, computer science, and construction because they just don't want to be, that women just happen to like journalism, teaching, and nursing. Sure. I'm certain that there are women out there that like journalism, teaching, and nursing. But I'm appalled that she failed to acknowledge that known barriers that exist to women entering traditionally male sectors of work and areas of study.

Our offices still get prank calls from idiotic men who think it's funny to harass junior staff and interns with requests for blow jobs and sandwiches.

And let's just say "GOP" and leave it at that. I think it's pretty self-explanatory as to how that shows how much work is left to be done. Ugh.

Anyways, a big raspberry to all of those backwards-minded misogynist, sexist, anti-feminist, pro-patriarchy turds, and a big "HELL YEAH" to all of the many out there who stand up against sexual harassment, pay discrimination, racism (yes. race and ethnicity are factors here), disenfranchisement, fear-mongering, stereotyping, and the various and creative ways in which societies have decided to keep women bound. Here's to women and all the amazing contributions they have made and will make in the world.