Upcoming “Let’s Talk About Sex” Conference from SisterSong

Upcoming “Let’s Talk About Sex” Conference from SisterSong

Gender Equality and Fair Pay

One reason that Home Economics (now Family and Consumer Sciences) has been called a femal ghetto is because the professionals, mostly women, who work in these fields are so underpaid. Even within universities, professors teaching in FCS units are among the lowest paid. For me, the Paycheck Fairness Act was a refreshing and welcome acknowledgement of what most women know all too well: women work more cheaply than their male counterparts. The irony is, in these troubling times, our willingness to work cheap, take on the jobs of more than one person, and our increasing majorities among recipients of bachelors and masters degrees have advantaged women in this highly competitive market place. It's a sad irony, to be sure. There are those who do not beleive that gender inequality exists anymore, if it ever existed. In fact, there are those who disagree vehemently with anything resembling civil rights legislation, and those voices seem to get increasingly louder.

Remembering Ted

What does Ted Kennedy have to do with FCS? I'm not sure right now, I'm just sad that he's gone. Although, come to think of it, he stood for everything we in FCS have stood for and ought to stand for now: making sure that people's basic needs are met, fighting for healthcare for children, fighting for civil rights, early intervention...standing up for those who are too young, old, frail, or just plain powerless to stand up for themselves. He did this tirelessly until he was old and frail himself. We could borrow some of that spirit.

I'm not just sad about Ted--I'm sad about losing all three Kennedy brothers. But the best thing we can do to honor their memory is to carry on their work. Otherwise--what's the phrase? The terrorists win? There are all sorts of terrorists: Some assassinate great leaders in the prime of their lives. But there are less violent forms of terrorism. Some try to scare people into voting against their own self interest. Some try to shout people down in town hall meetings. Others threaten to pull out of AAFCS if we dare to discuss topics they view as off limits. Surprising how effective scare tactics can be.

But now it's finally time to do the hard thing, and stand up for issues that aren't always popular with all of our members. I know so many of our members think the way I do. I have no patience with the passive complicity of silence. We must not be afraid to say what we know is right. As Ted so eloquently put it, "...For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."