(no subject)
Dear Young Woman Voter,
I am sitting amidst boxes, paper piles and a thing-to-do-list that stretches the length of three pages to take a break and write to you.
I am both filled with hope and raked with fear about the impending results of the remainder of these primaries. Though Obama promises a change that is thorough and idealistic, I feel Hillary if elected will make the most palpable change in our lives, in the near future, and here is why:
Women have made so many incredible strides over the past few decades that gender bias is hardly noticable in early adulthood. If you go to college, you are rewarded equally to your male students for studying and scoring well on tests. Your are educated by female and male professors alike, and in sheer numbers, sometimes you may outnumber male students on co-ed campuses.
If you decided you want to work instead of continue your education, the early years are a struggle for young men and women alike, with grunt work being assigned to you and promotions and decent salaries reserved for those a bit older.
Trust me when I say that a few years from now, the symptoms of this long standing inequality will slowly bare its teeth. To this day, almost a decade after the millenium, we still make 70% on every dollar a man does. You can only imagine what that feels like, young woman voter, but when you are working ambitiously it is no less painful than a physical gash. And the job opportunities may be rife on the bottom, or even as high as mid-level management, but if you consider yourself a go getter, young woman voter, i hope your not disappointed to learn that there are less than 10 CEO of major fortune 500 companies right now.
And if you feel this doesn't apply to you, because you are independent, and you will run your own company one day, as I now finally do, imagine this:
You cannot get a problem resolved with say, an internet company you hired out. You try to get a supervisor on the phone to get the computer glitch fixed, but they refuse ("he's not in today") and make you feel like it must be something you're doing wrong on your end. So you have a male call back, who doesn't even understand what's going on, but simply parrots word for word what you're whispering in his non-phone holding ear. Alas, the company is compleletly co-operative, summonses their more talented specialists, and the problem is solved. Imagine, young woman voter, the humiliation and disrespect you must endure!
And just observe now, in your young adulthood, the social injustice! On my commute to work, I heard the college basketball scores on the news radio. The coverage was exlusive to male sports. Normally, I might not have noticed, because it's often harder to notice what's MISSING than something blatantly wrong. But this time, I knew the difference. The night before I watched the most hair raising, nail biting game when Rutgers advanced to play Tenessee in the finals. The media didn't notice. That is, the media didn't notice until some man with a radio show called them "Nappy Headed Hos".
I must wrap up and run now, because the server expert is here to fix the machine, the packaging company is outside with a delivery, one of my staff has a customer service question, and gosh darn i need to make myself a cup of coffee.
I will leave on this note: Obama is charasmatic. He believes it when he promises "change" and bears no ill intention. But although a nationwide equal salary enforcement may be near impossible at this time, HILLARY is going to deliver the respect you deserve to your personal everyday life and level the playing field just that little bit more.
so if, young woman voter, you are swept up in a wave of enthusiasm with your friends, and every Obama victory makes your blood bubble, please take a second to ponder what it would mean if you did change your mind. Put aside the myths that Hillary is divisive (yes, this is slander which is another story). Knowing that she can heal the economy and health care, and all other things being equal, who would be the right leader for you???
Bea Friday