Women’s Equality Day: Looking At How Far We’ve Come While Bringing Awareness To How Far We Have To Go
We’ve made a lot of progress in the name of equality for women, but society still has a long way to go.
August 26th, 2014 marks the 94 year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. This was the amendment that granted women the right to vote. We call this day Woman’s Equality Day, and the path to this day was no easy feat, as laid out in the infographic below.
Women still face descrimination and bias and are forced to deal with issues from sexual harassment to unfair pay to gender gaps in science and engineering based careers. It is also worth noting that it was not until 2013 that the US Department of Defense allowed women to serve in ground combat roles.
So, as much as we should celebrate the strides our society has made for women, today should also be a day to realize that we are not done. Follow the lead of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frances Perkins who were strong, intelligent individuals that challenged conventional thinking. Without your voice, discrimination and prejudice still happens.
I want to leave you with this thought. If women can go from living the societal standard of solely staying home and raising children to creating life-changing, innovative organizations, businesses, and products, think of what the next 94 years has in store for us.
Check out the infographic below from Catalyst to learn more about the history behind the fight for women’s equality:
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