Not another piece on the downtrodden woman. Not exactly, we at San Diego Woman's Magazine will endeavor to inform today's woman with as many relevant issues facing us today as possible. Unfortunately, there are still many issues that face women today, the same ones that faced your mother and grandmother

Although there are still many issues numbering in the double digits facing women, we will limit this particular article to just 4, of the most egregious still plaguing woman.  

1. Poverty, Hunger, and Homelessness -These are interrelated, so we will address them as one. The following statistic is staggering but true. There are 70,000,000 women and children, who depend on them, on the verge of poverty in America, one of the richest nations in the world. A statistic that we, as a nation, would like to turn our heads and pretend can’t possibly be true. I have lived in 2 third world countries, and the one thing shared by both countries is the importance of family. These cultures would consider a homeless member of their family to be a disgrace, and it just isn't heard of in these cultures. A great number of Americans on the other hand, would not think of sharing their 2, 3, 4,000-foot homes with a less advantaged family member 

2. The Gender Wage Gap is Still Alive-Some 100 years ago Emma Goldman, who was considered to be an activist and radical writer, wrote an essay called “The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation.” In this essay, published by the Atlantic on July 12, Goldman points out and delves into such issues as equal pay, the tensions between family life and home life, and the roadblocks that prevent true gender equality. Sadly, women are either the primary or co-breadwinners in 6 out of 10 American families today, dealing with this same issue. Woman earn, on average 70 cents for every $1.00 a man earns. Men still have the majority of executive positions in fortune 500 companies. The list continues, and no matter how many executive orders are made; no matter how many articles are written; no matter how many bills are passed, the bottom line is the gender wage gap is still very much alive.

3. Violence and sexual harassment against women-A recent nationwide poll revealed data that showed 270,000 rapes or sexual assaults are reported by women every year.  And these reported incidents do not include the rapes or assaults that are not reported for various reasons. What is it with guys? You can't pick up a newspaper, magazine, or hear on the radio, see on TV, or read on the internet, about another man accused of harassment by some woman, some famous, some not so famous. All these men seem to have one thing in common; they are all high profile holding jobs that make them powerful. These men range from movie executives, actors, politicians, to heads of large companies or the sports world. It seems harassment is not limited to just one group of men, who have exhibited this aggressive behavior. These men have never been held accountable, so why shouldn't they take advantage of a woman. We, as women, have never made them take responsibility for their actions, so like it or not, we have to take responsibility as well for letting them get away with this kind of behavior. 

4. Roe v. Wade and Women’s Reproductive Rights-No matter what your religious or political views on abortion, many women still feel they have a right to do whatever they want when it comes to their bodies. In the past three years, a surge of anti-abortion measures has been adopted in more than ½ the states causing clinics to close or on the brink of closing. In short, it depends on where you live, whether you can get an abortion. These actions will just result in women going to those states that allow abortions or they will revert to those days when you paid some guy, who knew some guy, that could take care of ‘the problem. 

 

Hey, Ladies, we got the vote, we burned our bras in the 60's, we marched on Washington to show our nation's leaders how unified we are. But we still end up homeless, working for less pay, being harassed because we have different plumbing, and in some states not allowed to do what we want to our bodies. 

Oh, for the good ole’ days when women were the doctors, lawyers, decision makers of every village, while the men were responsible for hunting the meat and growing the vegetable that adorned the family table. These are facts, not wishful thinking. This was the way of life before religion and man decided they wanted a piece of the action, so they just started burning us willy -nilly . But that’s a whole other article.

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