more than ranting and raging

Grace is a rising senior interning at Legal Momentum this summer.

The first thing I did today was retweet a New York Times article titled, “Women as the Family Breadwinner on the Rise, Study Says.”  “YES. GREAT TO SEE. LET ME SHARE THAT,” I thought.  Dig a little deeper and you are reminded why 4 out of 10 households with underage children depend on the mother’s income for survival… there is no father within the household to provide.  The women in nearly two-thirds of these households are single parents.  This study reflects the extreme difference in family dynamics from 50 years ago when the number of breadwinning women was just a fourth of what it is today.  On a more empowering note, the article also shows the immense growth in the percentage of women who make more money than their husbands…almost 25% compared to just 6% in 1960!  Even if the woman has no choice but to be the main financial supporter for her family, the statistics are there… women can do it!

I love seeing evidence that women are capable of filling traditionally male roles.  For me, it does so much more than prove that women deserve ample education and work opportunities.  It helps me justify my feminism.  I have no fear sharing my views on women’s rights knowing that women REALLY ARE as good as men.  I almost can’t believe that that concept isn’t understood and still needs defense, but even though it’s the 21st century, there are bounteous demonstrations of the notion that men are better than women.  Rape and domestic violence are just two obvious examples.

I hope that working with Legal Momentum in the Equality Works program will help me structure my feminism.  It seems everyday I boil over misogynistic things I notice on the news, in social media, or from friends and family, but there’s no release.  I end my internal rants over how outrageous this world and men are with no satisfaction.  And if I do vocalize my feelings, the reception from those I trust with my rage is unsatisfactory.  I couldn’t be more excited to work with other feminists in a professional setting.

woMenWorkingLargeSo far I’ve gathered that Equality Works mainly supports female construction workers to stay in the field.   Working with this cause will be refreshing.  I have never worked with policy.  I’ve never looked into sexism within the construction industry.  I’ve never even met a female construction worker.  Getting familiar with these three things probably won’t take long.  While stereotypical intern tasks like filing and excel spreadsheets might make it hard to see the effect of Equality Work’s mission in this very real, very patriarchal world, I can clearly see how helping women move forward in their career affects the women’s movement.  Statistics, like the one that I chose to pass along to all my Twitter followers this morning, require tedious work to change.

 

 

3 thoughts on “more than ranting and raging

  1. Grace this a brilliant post! You are gonna do awesome things this summer and I’m stoked that I will around the city to see it all unfold. Keep stickin’ it, you’re epic 😀 mama loves ya.

  2. Having been the breadwinner in my family while my husband stayed home and pursued his music career, I know the we made the right choice for our family. Friends and acquaintances questioned our choice, and we still get questions. Despite the increase in women as primary breadwinners, it remains unconventional, and gender equality is elusive. I thought your coment regarding women’s ability to fill traditionally males roes as proof that women are deserving of education and opportunities to be an interesting perspective. Consider whether or not this sentence reflects a bias- shouldn’t women have the same opportunities as men, regardless of whether or not they can fulfill traditionally male roles?

  3. Margaret,
    Thank you for your comment. Yes, I do see the bias in that sentence. While trying to articulate the logic that because women have proven their ability to fulfill male roles, they deserve the same oppertunities as men, it does make it seem like I believe women only deserve these oppertunities if they can fulfill the male roles. I, like you, believe that all women and men deserve the same oppertunites, but in this post I was saying how the women who do prove that women can be successful in male roles give me amo against those who think women don’t deserve the same oppertunites as men (because they presume women can’t fill those roles). I’m glad you found my post relateable. Thank you for posing this question and please continue to comment on my blog posts.

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