Our blog is an extension of our brand and is intended to entertain and provide helpful tips and information so please allow me express by feelings on a current event. You see, I had a nice post on "Spring . Amazing . Everyday" just about complete but felt compelled to save it for another day.
The Sandra Fluke and Rush Limbaugh travesty has me all riled up. Sandra, a law student, was called a "SLUT" a "PROSTITUTE" because she is an advocate for insurance companies to cover birth control. Several men have echoed Sandra's opinion and may have been "chastised" by Rush but they were not called names. Guess the "Wink Wink" is alive still intact in some circles.
I want to be clear, this post is not about my position on birth control or a women's right to choose. It is simply about tolerance for diversity, treating women with respect and not allowing men to call women degrading names.
The "Rush" incident reminded me of "Imus in the Morning". Another radio talk show host who used a "racial slur" while referring to a young female basketball player while on the air for a station owned by MSNBC. Imus lost his job after being on the radio for 25 years and rightfully so. I applaud the efforts of everyone involved in making an ethical decision. It should be noted he was back on the air in 9 months for a different station.
Reverend Jessie Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton, iconic African-American leaders, took a staunch stance against Imus and applied pressure to hold him accountable for degrading the young women. If not for these two men, MSNBC may have let Imus skate by on an apology and not because they agreed with his choice of words...but they stood to loose a healthy steam of revenue.
In the case of Sandra Fluke, she had no iconic leaders for women's rights to jump to her defense. If this happened in the 70's or 80's, Gloria Steinem and Helen Gurley Brown would be all over this type of bull bias. Women would be protesting outside of Clear Channel's offices demanding action against Rush! News reporters with mic's in hand would stalk Gloria's office for a comment. Chance are he would have been asked to leave by now. I checked Gloria's Facebook page to see if she was up in arms; ready to stage the fight for a young women's rights. She had 3 recent post but she has not been in the limelight for many years.
You see, Gloria and Helen did their job and completed their mission! It is time for them to enjoy life. Problem is no one picked up the baton to act as a watchdog. We were all too busy reaping the rewards, getting promoted and making our way.
Seems "fabulous women" of a certain age including myself, failed to teach our beautiful, independent, and smart daughters about the women who came before us. The women who made it possible for women to be in power and empowered, treated as equals, CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies, doctors, lawyers and even a make a run for President of the United States.
And I do know, plenty of people are up in arms about the public disgracing Sandra Fluke received for voicing her opinion. Turn on any news channel or pick up the paper and the story is still news. I applaud the sponsors who canceled their advertising on the show. I fear without an iconic women leader to put the pressure on Clear Channel to fire Rush Limbaugh there is an excellent chance his weak apology will get him by.
You see...somewhere between the women's movement and today we lost our voice. We became a little complacent and secure in our world. So when Limbaugh spewed his venom, I felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown on me.
So the next time you talk to your daughter and explain she has the power remember to tell her it was not always like that....
Poem by Maya Angelo
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