I just got my Medicare Card so that tells you how long I’ve felt the discrimination of being a woman and how long I’ve waited to vote for a woman for President. As a Registered Nurse I watched men get promoted ahead of far more experienced women as women continued to work at the low end of an organization dominated by male administrators and department managers. Equal pay and equal opportunity are still just a dream for most women after a lifetime (and more) of fighting for full equality.
Ditto all women working in a female dominated profession or workplace. Look above you and I’ll guarantee you see a man as your supervisor and men around you being better paid by slight tilts in job titles and job descriptions now that the outright wage inequality has been outlawed. Yes, just about every workplace finds a way to treat and pay white male employees better. I’ve even been told (with a straight face, no less) that it’s “necessary because men have families to support” as if there weren’t a plethora of single mothers and self-supporting women in the workplace.
It’s been nice to see a few women CEOs, but most of them, too, are paid far less than men . We’re told this is because men negotiate “better deals” or some such nonsense. Well, if history and current events are true, Carly Fiorina was likely overpaid for her “services” driving HP into the ground, but that’s one single example. And far too many of these women execs also pull the ladder up when they’ve gotten themselves to the top of the heap so that helps no other woman.
But that’s not what I came to talk about. I came to talk about making life better for women. That takes me to Bernie.