In June 2008 the new Bristol County Commission on the Status of Women was passed into legislation.

Nine months later, nine commissioners were appointed representing the following towns throughout Bristol County: Mansfield, Assonet, Norton, Swansea, Raynham, South Dartmouth, New Bedford and Berkley.

The move to make this legislation came out of a regional council of women brought together after a regional hearing of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, held in Bristol County.

The MCSW regularly travels throughout the state holding regional public hearings where citizens of the commonwealth may express concerns relating to the status of women and girls in Massachusetts.

After holding a hearing in Bristol County, a group of women, led by Gail Fortes, the Executive Director of the YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts and a new BCCSW commissioner, began to meet regularly to examine research and data on girls and women in Bristol County in order to develop an agenda and action plan on women’s issues.

Out of this agenda came the need to develop a county commission. Regional council members felt this was the best way to represent women, as developing specific city-based women’s commissions would be more difficult and time consuming. For example, having to develop commissions in Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford would have been all-consuming and the outlying towns would not have representation in those city commissions.

State Sen. Joan Menard and Rep. Pat Haddad were the envoys for the legislation, writing it and pushing it through both the House and the Senate. Strangely, the bill was stuck for months in the Ways and Means committee, even though the legislation does not include any funding from the state.

But after months of waiting, it was finally passed. And then the MCSW went to work trying to find commissioners in Bristol County. This task took nine months.

On March 31, seven of the nine appointees were sworn in before a small crowd of friends, local politicians and commissioners from the MCSW at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The first meeting was held following the swearing-in to examine by-laws and the rules of running a local state commission.

As there had been priorities set previously by the regional council, these issues were brought to the table. These five priorities are as follows:

1. Education: funding for education, particularly higher education, keeping girls in school and workforce development.

2. Pay equity: closing the wage gap and equal pay for equal work.

3. Health care: access to affordable health care and access to birth control options, including abortion.

4. Leadership development: providing opportunities for women and girls, developing a mutual support network for women and girls, and promoting advancement opportunities for women in the workforce.

5. Providing access to affordable housing, childcare and transportation.

Of the seven commissioners present, all were in agreement with these five priorities, but felt that adding the issue of domestic violence as a sixth priority was imperative.

The commissioners will meet again for their second meeting on May 6 at UMass Dartmouth and will begin their work.

Announcements will be forthcoming in the fall regarding local city and town hearings where citizens of Bristol County can provide input on issues facing girls and women in Bristol County. The commissioners will then make recommendations and propose solutions.

It is an exciting time to be a woman in Bristol County!

http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x50619358/COMMUNITY-VOICES-New-commission-strives-for-gender-equality-04-18-09

Should First Ladies Get a Paycheck?

There is a debate on the Internet about first ladies getting a paycheck. This is an interesting debate, and of course one that brings up much larger issues than why the first lady does not get paid.
In fact, when I raised this question with my colleagues and family, I got to witness quite an interesting debate. I could not find any research that lists whether the first lady is “allowed” to work or not.
Some say the first lady should not get paid because her position is not elected. Her job does not have an official job description or official duties. The president, with his $400,000 a year salary makes enough for both of them, including all the perks they get.
Compared to the reasons why she should be paid, the argument against her getting paid seems very weak. For instance, hundreds of staffers at the White House are not elected positions, yet they get paid, including the first lady’s secretary. The two major jobs the first lady does are playing hostess to heads of state, or event planner, and meeting with various guests, which resembles the job of a lobbyist. Those two jobs make between $45,000 and $130,000 a year.
Another point to raise here is if Hillary Clinton had become our next president, would Bill Clinton stop doing lectures and speeches? Would he stop making money for the four or eight years she was in office? Would he turn down his annual presidential salary for that time?
There was talk during the inauguration that Dr. Jill Biden was interested in teaching at a local community college. Why should she be allowed to work, but not the first lady? She is obligated to give up her career and cannot earn an income, pay off old debts or build for retirement.
If Obama is re-elected, that would mean eight years of her not earning any Social Security or money toward her retirement, which could adversely affect her in the future, regardless if she gets some kind of “package” for being the president’s wife.
The larger issue surrounding the first lady not getting paid, however, is about sexism and the rigid sex roles we still assign to men and women in our culture.
While she is welcome to come up with a platform and champion a cause that is personal to her, working for charity is not valued as important work in our society. Planning events, managing a home and children, and entertaining guests are also not valued in our culture and these are tasks assigned to the first lady.
Women do not get paid for the work they do in the home and raising children. The United States is often criticized for our lack of support for housewives and mothers. And when the woman married to the man at the top of the country cannot earn money for the work she does in the home to support her husband, then why would any other woman expect to get paid for her time spent in the home?
Arlie Hochschild’s book, “The Second Shift,” written in 1990, examines couples in dual career marriages and the time they each put in for housework and childcare. Her 10-year study revealed that women, who work full time, also work more 24-hour days than their husbands taking care of the home and the children.
The old adage “a man may work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done” will always remain part of our culture until something changes. Maybe at the top?

http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1278515502/COMMUNITY-VOICES-Can-Obama-change-rigid-sex-roles-01-24-09

It Doesn't Take a Superhero to Defeat Gender Bias

Four years ago, I wrote and directed a play about superhero women. Part of my reason for writing a play about superhero women was based on two Bravo Television specials about the top ten superheroes. The first show listed the top ten superheroes and they were all men. They were chosen based on their powers and their strength. The next night the top ten “supervixens” aired. These characters were chosen based on the size of their breasts and their looks. The Bond girls were included in this list. I was appalled.

I went to Toys R Us to shop for presents for the cast, hoping to find each actress an action figure version of her character. As I browsed the action figure department, I saw Batmans, Supermans, Spidermans and many other male superheroes and action figures. Perplexed, I wandered over to the Barbie section or the “pink” aisle as they call it. Seeing nothing but Barbie, I approached a salesperson. I asked her, “Why are there no action figures for girls?” She replied, “Girls like dolls and ponies.” I was aghast. “Well,” I replied, “maybe if girls had the option to buy female action figures, they would.” What girl wouldn’t want a Wonder Woman action figure?

Fortunately, EBay had Barbies designed as Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, and Poison Ivy. I noticed the packaging had several languages listed on it when I received them. I wondered if these Barbies were made or marketed in Europe as I had never seen them in the U.S. All of my nieces got them for Christmas that year.

Toy Stores, especially monopolies like Toys R Us, are great examples of where strict gender lines are still being drawn in our culture. But these gender lines are also drawn in the movies that portray superheroes. Of nine movies about superheroes, only one of them featured a woman: Catwoman. Some might even suggest she is not a role model, but a villain. The work of two progressive movements in our culture: civil and women’s rights has not trickled down into the places where gender lines continue to be drawn.

It matters very much that children have positive role models who look like them. We know that girls and boys have just started saying they want to be president of the United States because girls saw a powerful woman run for that office and boys saw a powerful African American man win that office. From all white superhero men to the lack of powerful women in the media, girls and children of different races and ethnicities have very few to look up to as role models. We need to find a way to start rejecting the white bread heroes that Hollywood and the media continue to push down our throats and demand role models who not only resemble us, but provide powerful examples to strive for.

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x541351705/COMMUNITY-VOICES-It-doesnt-take-a-superhero-to-defeat-gender-bias-11-15-08

Sarah Palin: Phyllis Schafly with a Pretty Face

I was thrilled that the newspaper asked me to comment on Palin. One woman actually called my house on Saturday to thank me for it. But the best part is reading the comments on the paper's website! Woozer! "Sarah Palin exemplifies what most American women were like, not so long ago when this country was truly great."

Sarah Palin: Phyllis Schlafly With a Pretty Face

When the Republicans announced their nominee for Vice-President last Friday, I was not shocked, I was offended. I was offended that the GOP clearly thinks women are stupid, particularly women who were supporters of Hillary Clinton for President. Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have nothing in common except for their gender. Palin, more conservative than McCain, believes in creationism, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, abstinence only education and opposes gun control, stem cell research, and abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.

The media focus on Hillary supporters who would not vote for Obama was all hype. The few women who are distraught about Obama winning the primary are just that: a few. No intelligent Hillary supporter would ever confuse gender over belief. It's a pity that the Republicans think so little of the intelligent women in this country who care about issues like national health care, pay equity, the environment, sexual education, the right to choose when and if we bear children, childcare, education, maternity leave, the economy, affirmative action, and a war with no end in sight.

If McCain moves into the White House, I can assure you that many rights we now hold will continue to be destroyed as they have been under the Bush Administration. Our right to choose, our right to live in a country free from pollutants, our right to health care, and affirmative action will be set aside while we invade more countries, send more of our children to useless irresponsible wars and chip away at any rights that gays and lesbians have begun to get over the last decade.

Palin left her city in debt, she tried to ban books in her city's library and clearly her advocacy for abstinence only sex education has not been affective, as demonstrated in her own family.

When Palin was interviewed in July about being on the list for potential vice presidents, she said "I keep asking exactly what the VP does every day." A world where Sarah Palin is just a melanoma away from a Presidency with no federal or foreign experience is not a world I want to live in. And just because Alaska is next to Russia does not make her an expert in foreign policy. I want to live in a world where justice, equality and true democracy unite us as citizens and where other countries look at us as the progressive democratic country that our forefathers wanted us to be. To me, Ms Palin is just the right wing version of Phyllis Schlafly with a pretty face.

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x55303083/COMMUNITY-VOICES-Phyllis-Schlafly-with-a-pretty-face-09-13-08

Smart Start

I did a training to be a facilitator for The Wage Project. Here's a picture of me and the other trainees. Basically what this means is that I can teach junior & senior college women about how to benchmark and negotiate their salaries as they get out of school. The average woman with a college degree will lose a million dollars over her lifetime because of wage inequity. Dr. Murphy's book Getting Even: Why Women Don't Get Paid Like Men and What to do About it researches and exposes pay inequity in depth. Her website is incredible. I saw Dr. Murphy speak at the Massachusetts Women in Public Higher Education Conference. I was so moved by her talk that I jumped on board when asked by our local YWCA if we wanted to be a campus pilot for the Wage Project. www.wageproject.org

Hannah Crowley: A Little Known Playwright Ahead of Her Time

My dear friend and acting mentor, Ed Shea, a brilliant director and the Artistic Director at 2nd Story Theatre, in Warren, RI asked me to write the scholarly essay for the current production. I was not only honored for the opportunity but thrilled to learn about yet another woman, ahead of her time, who changed the world for many. Check them out at www.2ndstorytheatre.com

Hannah Cowley was one of few women in the 18^th Century to make it as a playwright on the English stage, following behind Aphra Behn and Susanna Centlivre. Raised by a bookseller father, she was provided with a basic classical education unknown to most girls of her generation going on to support herself as a playwright, writing thirteen plays. Her entry into playwriting as a career reveals her personal agency as a woman. As the story goes, after a disappointing night at the theatre, Cowley told her husband that she could write a play just as good and did so. The early draft of The Runaway, her first play, was produced at Drury Lane. Her most successful play, The Belle’s Stratagem allowed her to become the breadwinner in her family, another rarity of the time.

The Belle’s Stratagem is also a perfect example of Cowley’s engaged female characters who examine women’s agency, the role of women’s education, and the institution of marriage. This play calls attention to the discrimination of women during a time when women were far from getting the vote in the U.S. or Britain.[i] In Act Two, Scene One, a discussion of women’s oppression ensues reminiscent of Marilyn Frye’s landmark 1982 essay “Oppression,” where she asks readers to consider a birdcage as a metaphor for oppression. When examining one wire at a time, the viewer is unable to see why a bird would not just fly by the wire to leave. Only when one steps back to see the entire cage do they can realize why the bird cannot escape. Frye writes, “It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as the solid walls of a dungeon.” Like that bird in the cage, Lady Frances Touchwood is asked by Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle if she would like to stay longer to explore London and she replies “I have not the habit of consulting my own wishes.” Never given the opportunity to think for herself, Cowley’s feminists, Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle, decide to encourage Lady Frances to do so.

Of course Sir George is quite alarmed by Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle’s desire to take his wife out on the town and a discussion on what makes a “fine lady” ensues between Mrs. Racket and Sir George. His definition amounts to a worldly and independent woman being a traitor to her home and one who is controlled by vanity. Mrs. Racket accuses him of living in the old days and counters his definition by stating that a “fine lady” is one “for whom nature has done much and education more; she has taste, elegance, spirit, understanding . . . a fine lady is the life of conversation, the spirit of society, the joy of the public!” This debate mimics even today’s dualistic stereotype of woman as either Madonna or whore. Sir George implies that all women are alike and states that even Mrs. Racket fails in her proper position of widow. Jumping to her defense, Miss Ogle replies that Sir George wishes for a society of 150 years ago when families had dedicated roles assigned to them.

During this debate, Mr. Flutter enters and reveals that Sir George had let Lady Frances’ bullfinch fly away because he was jealous of her love for the bird. Sir George then tells Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle that Lady Frances will not be going out with them. Alarmed, she states this is the first time he has used the expression “shall not” in reference to her. Mrs. Racket and Miss Ogle insist she leave with them, even when Lady Frances expresses concern that Sir George is angry. They gently remind her that her husband got rid of her bird and that this moment will define their relationship from now on. Lady Frances agrees, saying “I won’t give up neither. If I should in this instance, he’ll expect it forever.”

Cowley uses the play, with comedic wit and characterization, to deconstruct 18^th century courtship, expose oppression in marriage, and explore women’s independence. Yet she simultaneously allows Lady Frances to make a choice about her life and her marriage. At the end of the day, Lady Frances returns to Sir George and tells him she missed him and that she would rather spend her time with him as “Every body about me seem’d happy but every body seem’d in a hurry to be happy somewhere else.” For Cowley, women’s independence is not about being without men, but in having the choice to be with them. Hannah Cowley, while absent from many theatre history texts, was two hundred years ahead of her time.

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[i] Women could vote in 1918, two years before U.S. women, but they had to be at least 30 years old. In 1928 they were allowed to vote at the same age as men.

I Should Explain

I was showing my husband my blog the other night and realized that I needed to explain what the other blog entries were. I have been writing what is called "Community Voices" for The Herald News of Fall River since last fall. I would love to do it more, like develop a woman's column. And often the online versions have very interesting and illuminating commentary by local readers.