Many editorial pages this year have predicted that a new era has opened, one in which important men will increasingly be called to account for the sexual abuse or harassment of women. A sharp acceleration of accusations as the year progressed has made the prediction plausible.
I agree entirely—well, almost. We’re not in the vortex of a revolution; rather, a change has been building for a very long time. In 1963, The Feminine Mystique was published, documenting widespread feelings of unfulfillment among American women. A decade later, I recall a very sober meeting at work. My uber-boss told us that referring to the women in our organization as “girls” was taboo. And further, an affirmative action program was being rolled out so that women would be matched with more challenging jobs and helped to appreciate their worth and potential. At about the same time, Helen Reddy’s song “I Am Woman,” a hymn to the power of women, shot to the top of the pop music charts.
Throughout the 70’s, support for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) grew. The ERA proposed to grant equal rights to men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and much else tainted by sexual discrimination.
Congress passed the ERA and sent it on to the state legislatures, where it had a rush of successes. In just five years, it had 35 of the 38 state ratifications it needed. But it would budge no further, even though Congress extended the ratification deadline by three years. Conservative America spoke, issuing dire warnings of women forced to enter the draft and the inevitable shame of being a housewife.
Still, the approval of 70% of the states is something to reckon with. A movement like that doesn’t vaporize. On the contrary, a “virtuous circle” was born, a spiral in which beneficial events pile on one another and undergird more beneficial events to come. Affirmative action programs grew more common. Women continued to press for wage equality. Their numbers rose in elective offices, at the local, state, and federal levels. Glass ceilings shattered. A woman was nominated for the presidency. This year came the tipping point.
Last night on the news, I heard the story of Gitanjali Rao, a 12-year-old girl from Denver, who won the Young Scientist Challenge and $25,000. She had been upset on hearing about the high levels of lead in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water. It wasn’t just the harm lead does to the growth and brains of children, it takes days for a lab to report that a suspected water sample has been poisoned. So Gitanjali invented a device and a companion mobile app that can detect lead-contaminated water in seconds. Imagine the incredible rate of water sampling that can now be done anywhere in the world!
When Gitanjali’s science teacher was asked what made her special, she answered, “Gitanjali’s a risk taker; she’s not afraid to fail.” We should now say the same of tens of millions of girls and women, to the great betterment of us all.
The Scratching Post 