Is It Too Late to Celebrate Women’s Equality Day?

Yesterday, August 26, 2012 was the 92nd anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution that gave women the right to vote.  In 1971, during the second wave of feminism, Congresswoman Bella Abzug, proposed this day as a presidential proclamation, renewed each year, as Women’s Equality Day.

Not to belittle the efforts of the suffragettes, some of whom spent time in jail for their cause, it is truly a misnomer–”women’s equality” just because we have the right to vote.  We have to use that right to make our voices heard.  And that means everyone’s voices from Nancy Pelosi to Sarah Palin.

There exists no single concept of women’s equality, what it means, what it stands for.  As a searched the internet “Women’s Equality Day 2012″ looking for some press on the issue, I was astounded to find out that August 26 is also “Go Topless Day” a worldwide movement that suggests women should be able to go around baring their chests as do men.  While I don’t deny the right of anyone to espouse any type of belief as long as it doesn’t call for direct harm to others, I see this “coincidental” alignment of celebrations of rights for women as unfortunate.

It is just this thinking, that we should have whatever the men have, I believe is keeping us from realizing our potential as women.  (I am well aware that gender is not a binary, but for the sake of this post and my point, let’s leave the gender spectrum simple, though it is not.)  We have fallen into the trap of looking at what men have and do and wanting just that.  And for many women that is not the choice.  The choice is wholly living our lives as we see fit, whether it is head of a corporation, unmarried, childless or at home with 10 kids, barefoot and pregnant, and everywhere in between.

Instead we are involved in some of the ugliest rhetoric in my lifetime about the war against women, rape and reproduction.  When we get involved in focusing on one man’s foolish comments, we cheapen our hard won rights.  We lose focus as to what we really want as women.

“And what do we really want?” you might ask.  We want the opportunities to live our lives that we want to live, free from harm, full of love.  We want to be free of stereotypes and economic challenges that keep us from realizing our potential.  And we want the same opportunities to pursue our own happiness, however each one of us might want to define it.  Those are the rights we are guaranteed.

So is it really too late to celebrate women’s equality day?  Only if you have lost your senses and sensibilities about the word equality means.  It does not always mean the same as men.  That kind of thinking will always have us coming up as deficient.  What it means is that we have to have serious dialogue leading to action in the many different and often competing spheres of life where women and their dreams collide with the reality of our biology and immovable cultural expectations, some good and some not so good.

So as we approach this election season, let’s keep the dialogue true to the topics of import.  And most of all, let’s give careful thought as to choose our leaders.  But remember, at the end of the day, equality for women is not considered as the same by all.