Women’s History Month programming comes to Rockland venues
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- March
- 7
For those of you who love trivia, here’s a question. Do you know how Women’s History Month started? (Don’t worry. The answer will follow at the end, but first, here’s some information about what’s happening locally.)
Rockland Community College has announced its slate of Women’s History Month events, and the programs include discussions about female genital mutilation, women in Shakespeare’s plays and women in music and pornography.
The events are at RCC, 145 College Road in Ramapo. They are open to the public and are free of charge.
For more details on the events and their respective locations on the campus, visit sunyrockland.edu.
Also, Origin bookstore will host a display of art by Patricia Goodman 5 to 7 p.m. March 22. There’ll also be a Women’s book club 6 to 8:30 p.m. March 25. Origin is located inside the Nanuet Mall on Route 59. For information, visit www.originbooksartandcoffee.com.
And now for the answer (thanks to those of you who’ve read this far): According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the roots of National Women’s History Month go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions.
International Women’s Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn’t until 1981 that Congress established National Women’s History Week to be commemorated the second week of March.
Then, in 1987, Congress expanded the week
to a month.
Here are some other interesting facts released by the Census Bureau:
- The median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full-time, in 2006, was $32,649. Women earned 77 cents for every $1 earned by men.
- Thirty-two percent of women 25 to 29 had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2006, which exceeded that of men in this age range (25 percent). Eighty-eight percent of women and 84 percent of men in this same age range had completed high school.
- The projected number of bachelor’s degrees that will be awarded to women in the 2007-08 school year is 894,000, with women also projected to earn 380,000 master’s degrees during the same period. Women would, therefore, earn 59 percent of the bachelor’s and 61 percent of the master’s degrees awarded during this school year. In addition, women would earn a majority (52 percent) of first-professional degrees (including law and medicine.)
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 6:26 pm by Suzan Clarke.
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I applaud anyone and everyone who sincerely tries to make the world a better place, especially when that help comes in the form of helping or celebrating other people.
Nevertheless, when members of the media publish statements like “Women earned 77 cents for every $1 earned by men,” I am saddened by the apparent disregard for “the whole story.”
In average, that figure is true. But, that is only an average and there are plenty of cases where women outearn men. Don’t believe me? Great, check the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read “Why Men Earn More” by Dr. Warren Farrell.
The media takes great effort in promoting women’s victimization because it sells and makes money. But, it is not the whole truth. In Corporate America, the truth is that women (and minorities) are given every advantage to succeed. By definition, men (esp. white males) are not diverse.
Women are hurt by grand statements which promote their victim status, but men are hurt too because they (we) are seen as the enemy. All of us.
I think it would behoove you to tell the world the complete story of women’s vs. men’s earnings. What have you done to promote equality?
Thanks and God bless you.