International Women's Day

Typically I like to keep things light here on the blog. But what is the point of sharing things with family, friends and strangers in cyberspace if I don't share the things that matter?

This evening I was pondering this quotation from the Baha'i Writings:

There must be an equality of rights between men and women. . . For the world of humanity possesses two wings: man and woman. If one wing remains incapable and defective, it will restrict the power of the other, and full flight will be impossible. Therefore, the completeness and perfection of the human world is dependent upon the equal development of these two wings.

Today is International Women's Day. The fact that we need a special day in the year to remind us to celebrate women seems an indication that we still have a long way to go before we reach that ideal of equality we aspire to.

Statistically women in the United States still earn only 77% of what men do for the same jobs; 1 in 3 women worldwide will be a victim of physical abuse during her lifetime, most likely at the hands of an intimate partner; all over the developing world women's literacy rates are significantly lower than men's; and women are many times more likely than men to suffer forced prostitution, rape, trafficking, and indentured servitude, and in many countries these crimes go unnoticed and unpunished.

I hope that anyone who stops by to read this will give a thought to those statistics and agree that they are unacceptable. No matter where we live and what we do, every one of us can make an effort to become informed about the issues that uniquely impact half the inhabitants of our planet, be a voice for equality when the opportunity presents itself, and strive to change the attitudes of those around us. We don't want to hand those statistics down to our daughters and granddaughters.