How women fared in past decade
In a few days we launch the beginning of a new decade and close the book on the ’00s – the first 10 years of the second millennium. As a full-time cultural critic and follower of women’s issues, my first thought was that women have not made much progress this decade, certainly not as much as some of us would have liked to have witnessed. Sexism was clearly more acceptable than racism in the ’08 campaign. And while I’m thrilled we’re starting to conquer racism, I’m saddened by the fact that sexism is still alive and well in American media and culture. There was ample evidence in the presidential campaign when then-Sen. Hillary Clinton was called a she-goat and all manner of sexist insults without fellow partisans protesting the abuse. There was the chorus of Dem-ocrats calling on her to give up her campaign before she was ready to do so. Nonetheless, she became the first woman to win 20 state primaries.
On the GOP ticket, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin became the first woman to run for vice president on the Republican side. She, too, has suffered sexist treatment in the media.
There were other indications women have not achieved basic indicators of success that many of us assumed we would be beyond at this point. A report by Catalyst just this month found five years of stagnation in terms of women being appointed to Fortune 500 corporate boards. The percentage has remained at just above 13 percent since 2003. And so on.
On the national front, early in the decade the brouhaha in Congress over the death of Terry Schiavo prompted conservatives to push through the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This was the first time federal law recognized personhood for fetuses and a major blow to women’s rights.
But there are also areas in which we’ve made real and substantive progress. One area is in the military, which is often first to break down barriers. The decade began with the closest presidential race in history, resulting in a win for Republican President George W. Bush. Less than a year later the country witnessed the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. As a result, the country launched two wars, with thousands of women, more than 190,000 in fact, joining the services. No longer behind the scenes, today’s female soldiers are taking on jobs once labeled men-only.
Hurricane Katrina, as devastating as it was to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, had the indirect effect of helping to elect the first female speaker of the U.S. House. The Bush administration’s delayed reaction to the catastrophe caused Republicans to lose control of both the House and the Senate. The architect of the Democratic congressional victory, Nancy Pelosi, became the first woman Speaker of the House.
In 2006, Katie Couric became the first and only female anchor of a nightly newscast, the “CBS Evening News.” This year it was announced she would face female competition from another network anchor. Diane Sawyer took over the anchor seat at ABC’s “World News Tonight.”
This year President Barack Obama took office filling his Cabinet with a number of women, most notably former rival Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Obama also selected Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice, making her the first Latina and third woman to sit on the highest court in the land.
The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Act, adding strength to equality laws, and just in time, as women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce. That in itself is historic as working women at the end of the decade about equaled, due in part to the recession, men in the workforce. Increased female participation in the workforce is a side effect of the recession, which hit male-dominated fields particularly hard.
So as the ’00s draw to a close with some major ups and major downs for women’s advancement, let us hope we make up some lost ground in the second decade of the new millennium.
Bonnie Erbe is a TV host and writes this column for Scripps Howard News Service. E-mail bonnieerbe@CompuServe.com