No Power? No Excuses
No Power? No Excuses. By Dorri Olds
First there was Hillary Clinton's groundbreaking campaign for President. Then Kathryn Bigelow became the first female to win an Oscar for Best Director (for the Best Picture), The Hurt Locker. This year's Forbes celebrity power list included women in three of the top five spots: the first in the list was, of course, Oprah Winfrey, who earned an estimated $315 million dollars from June 2009 to June 2010. So, is there still a sexism problem? Yes. Women hold only 18 percent of top leadership roles at work and only 3 percent of positions of clout in mainstream media. A mere 7 percent of the traffic circles in Washington, D.C. are named after women. There’s never been a woman’s face on paper money and the gender division of household responsibilities is still largely unequal. Feminist icon and author of four books, Gloria Feldt, speaks to women in her new book, No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change the Way We Think About Power and Leadership, published by the women- run publisher, Seal Press. “No law or structural barrier is holding us women back now, except ourselves,” said Feldt. “I’ve been thrilled to see women break open so many doors during my decades of activism, but we still have a long way to go.” Sadly, the facts are the facts. Women make up the majority of voters, but still represent a puny 17 percent of Congress. Only 6 United States governors are female. Some changes are encourag- ing, like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, guaranteeing the right of women to sue for equal pay for doing the same job as men, recently signed into law by President Barack Obama. But, on aver- age, women still earn just 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man. Feldt doesn't deny that insidious cultural barriers remain, and does not just harangue women to do more. In her book she offers tools for women to be their own advocates and become more in control of their lives. “This book is aimed at three distinct categories of women,” said Feldt, “young women starting out in their careers or still in school, mid-career women in the business world, and members of my gen- eration and older who are interested in the history and concerned about the future for women.” Feldt has been an activist for women for 40 years. It began when she got “ticked at discrimination that affected me personally—like ‘help wanted, male’ ads that said I couldn’t apply for well-paying jobs.” Feldt also makes the point that now there are many more feminist men than ever before who share her values of equality and justice. Her message is: If you want equal rights, just take them. If you want to improve your life, just do it. And she tells you how. This author knows what she’s talking about. She was married in her teens, and by the time she was 20 she was Mom to three kids and exhausted. Her father had always told her, “You can do anything your pretty little head desires.” So she did. She went to college, and then to work, and became active in the Civil Rights movement. The turning point in her life came when she realized that women have civil rights too. Gloria Feldt became President and CEO of the Planned Parent- hood Federation of America, a bestselling author, a powerful key- note speaker and commentator on leadership, politics and women. Jane Fonda said, “Gloria is a practical visionary. She has led us forward while always having our backs. She gives voice to all the women who need voice.”
Dorri Olds (DorriOlds.com) is a webmaster and writer.
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