And what is
today's "point of rage"? Said Quindlen, inequality sparks rage; she quoted an
associate who expressed this notion as "comfort the afflicted and afflict the
comfortable."
Collins located
the rage in the more than $1 trillion students owe for college loans,
hoodwinked by the promise that they could easily pay them off after graduation,
but today stuck in jobs they can't relate to, paying installments on these
loans and accrued interest for life.
We also need to do something about the enemies military women face outside of active combat, their male colleagues.
*****
After that, the subject turned to women's colleges and how
they empowered women far more than did coeducational settings. It is no
coincidence, for example, that both Friedan and Steinem are Smith College
graduates.
It was no coincidence,
either, that I walked out of the room in a clump of Seven Sisters types. I
hadn't dress stylishly for the occasion, so had to proclaim my Wellesley
College affiliation before I got any attention--that's where our next president,
maybe, went to college, not to mention Madeleine Albright.
*****
I was
disappointed. During the Q&A period, I raised my hand tentatively, wanting
the distinguished guests to address other issues, including the fate of
whistleblowers like me who have dared to complain about sexual harassment in
the workplace and have been jettisoned therefrom more than once and today no
one wants to hire me. I'm too old anyway, though fit and hyperactive as someone
half my age. They, too, are out of work in large numbers, though.
Computer scientist Clint Curtis got fired for
reporting election-related political finagling back in the early 2000s and
ended up working as a clerk for a Dollar Store (today he practices law).
Bradley Manning spoke out and is being hanged for it, even as he moves into the
court martial phase next week.
The best
supervisor I ever had asked me if I was crazy when I complained to her that the
new department head was stalking me outside of the workplace. I asked her how
she would feel in a similar situation. She admitted she'd be upset, but I
forgot to ask her what she'd do about it, I was so upset.
That issue in
itself, a subset of whistle blowing, is moot, as is whistle blowing, which
simply attempts to apply the principles we worship in church on Sunday to the
other six days of the week.
Nor have I
exhausted the list of issues confronting women's rights and the human rights
that they entail.
Ladies, my
offense rests. Get back to work.
Yours with only the deepest reverence and esteem,
Marta Steele
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