This One's For The Girls: Happy Birthday, Title IX!

This Saturday, June 23rd, marks a special place in Women's history and my own personal one for that matter. It is the 40th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, which states:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity

This original statute made no specific mention of high school and collegiate athletics, but its impact in this realm has been incalculable. Without it, hundreds of thousands of young female athletes would have had no chance. Before Title IX, women's sports programs were almost non-existent. Only 1 in 27 girls played any kind of varsity sport. Today that ratio is 1 in 2. As of 2008 there are 9,101 women's collegiate athletic teams and more than a million dollars awarded in athletic scholarship money in Division I schools.

It was authored by Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana as an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965. He stated "While the impact of this amendment would be far-reaching, it is not a panacea. It is, however, an important first step in the effort to provide for the women of America something that is rightfully theirs—an equal chance to attend the schools of their choice, to develop the skills they want, and to apply those skills with the knowledge that they will have a fair chance to secure the jobs of their choice with equal pay for equal work."

Though athletics is where it is best known, Title IX has had a far-reaching impact on education as a whole. Prior to 1972, women earned 7% of the law degrees, 9% of medical degrees and around 13% of all doctorates. Today that stands at 47% of all law degrees and 43% of all medical degrees. Not to mention that half of all doctoral degrees at US colleges and universities are now awarded to women.

In forty years, my sisters have made tremendous strides. Here's to us. Pomegrante martinis all around!

Now, about that personal history I mentioned...

When I was born, Title IX did not exist, but thanks to its passage, I was able to join a softball league formed in my neighborhood. It was one of the first of its kind in Chicago, the East Side Girls Athletic Association. Below is a picture of my first team, the Debs. I was a catcher, a pitcher, right fielder and second baseman.We spawned three softball All Americans and four Illinois First Team High School All Stars. I wasn't one of them, but that's okay. Speaking of...There's yours truly down on the far right, second one in, hand over her face. So for my teammates Michelle, Sharon, Karen, Joy Ann, Nicole, Ginger, Tina, Lisa, Peggy, Chris, Darcy, Debbie and the three whose names escape me, Happy Birthday Title IX!

What's In A Name?

Names are so important, they help us forge our identities. Our parents hold absolute power by choosing our names when we are born. We as writers labor over what to name our characters. So what's in a name? Absolutely everything.

On Saturday, 285 girls in the Satara district of Maharashtra state in central India took part in a renaming ceremony for themselves. You see every single one of them had been given names that meant "unwanted." Can you imagine? Your whole identity beginning with the title of unwanted. I was astounded.

Government officials were prompted to hold such a ceremony because the latest census results show that ratio of girls to boys has dropped sharply. There are now 914 girls for every 1000 boys under the age of six. In Maharashtra that ratio is even lower with only 883 girls for every 1000 boys under the age of six and in Satara district, the ratio drops even further. Many believe this is due to the extreme gender bias that exists.

In India, girl fetuses are often aborted once the sex of the child is learned. Hospitals are forbidden to reveal the gender of an unborn babe as a preventative measure, but the truth gets out anyway. Girl children in many cases are neglected so they die young.

The name often given to girls is Nakusa or Nakusi which means "unwanted." Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, who came up with the idea for the renaming ceremony, says in a quote to AP "Nakusa is a very negative name as far as female discrimination is concerned." On Saturday these beautiful, extraordinary young women came forward and took their power back. They shed their horrible birth names and renamed themselves. They chose to be called "Aishwarya" after the gorgeous Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai. They chose "Savitri" after the goddess and "Vaishali" which means "prosperous, beautiful and good." One girl chose "Ashmita" meaning "very tough" or "rock hard."

The article, by Chaya Babu from the Associated Press, is here. The article is enlightening and shocking. I always understood that a name is powerful, but I guess I never really thought about it outside of my own stories. I am so happy that these girls were given the opportunity to rename themselves. They have forged a new path on life. I am in awe of the courage it took for them to make such a decision and go to this ceremony. Just look in those gorgeous eyes and see the hope and strength. Those girls, like the Nobel winners I posted, are what true Girl Power is all about.

To those girls and my fellow females everywhere, here's Pink with "Fuckin' Perfect" cuz we are ALL fuckin' perfect.



** The image above is from the Associated Press.

Inspirational Women

I am an ardent feminist, Girl Power to the core. If there's a rally for women somewhere, I'll be there or be writing about it. Here, I often write of strong women and badass bitches I love in television and on film. Women who kick ass and take no prisoners. Today I am taking some time to honor three of the strongest women in this world. Their courage and fortitude humbles me and simply cannot be measured. Tawakul Karman, Leymah Gwobee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf were selected to be the recipients of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. They have worked tirelessly in their countries for the rights of women, risking their very lives to blaze a trail into the darkness of oppression that shines with the power of a thousand spotlights.

Words cannot express the profound joy I feel at seeing these three women from two nations known for their ruthless suppressive governments, receive one of the greatest awards in the world.

Tawakul Karman is a Muslim woman who has risen to become the face of Yemen's pro-democracy movement. She has been honored as the "Mother of Yemen's Revolution" and holds a position on the central committee of her country's Islah (Reform) Party. Something that was unheard of just a few years ago. Although she helped kick things off with the Day of Rage on February 3 of this year, the truth is she had been working tirelessly the year before holding protests at the Girl's College of Sana'a University for the rights and freedoms of women. Since 2007 she has led demonstrations against censorship and the right to create a free radio station. These demonstrations were often met with violence, yet she never waivered and now the Yemeni people stand on the precipice of taking back their country from its oppressive rulers. Sahar Tarman has a wonderful article about Tawakul here.

Leymah Gwobee began her activism in a fish market outside Liberia's capital of Monrovia nine years ago. It was there that she, along with thousands of Liberian women began to make their voices heard. They dressed in white and sat, singing and praying within earshot of the dictator, Charles Taylor. Rain or shine, they stayed, protesting the 14 years of war their country had endured. In 2003 she led hundreds of women to Monrovia's city hall demanding an end to the violence. When at last they confronted Taylor and the other warring factions, the Accra Peace accord was signed. She now serves on Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is executive director of Women in Peace and Security Network, an organization that works with women in Liberia Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Tamasin Ford has a great article here in the Guardian profiling Gwobee.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first democratically elected woman to lead the nation of Liberia and the first female Head of State on the continent of Africa. At 17 she had been married to James Sirleaf, who brought her to the United States in 1961. Here she studied economics, receiving an eventual Masters from Harvard in Public Administration. She returned to Liberia where she served as Assistant Minister of Finance and Minister of Finance under William Tolbert. She survived a brutal coup which took the life of Tolbert and fled her country in November 1980. After working for the World Bank, Citibank and HSBC throughout the 80's and early 90's, she was appointed to the United Nations Development Programme where she served as assistant, then as director of the Regional Bureau for Africa. In 1999 she was appointed by the Organization for African Unity as part of a prominent team to investigate the Rwandan genocide. She became President of Liberia in 2005 and in 2006 created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the brutal crimes carried out during Liberia's Civil War. The New York Times has a great profile of her here.