‘Binders of Women’

This phrase was first uttered during the debate between Romney and Obama and ever since then it has reverberated around the nation if not the world. Couple this with this week’s LA Times article about the life of widows in India and the shooting of the young student Malala by the Taliban and it makes one think, have women really made inroads as far as their rights and equality? As recent as tonight’s Bill Maher show it is obvious that men still don’t consider women as their equal. The 2 male panelists would not give the woman panelist time to talk and they mostly ignored her and what she had to say. Women in the business world know about the ‘glass ceiling’ and we in the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) often see bids that include women-owned businesses listed as sub-contractors but their services are never used once the bidding process is over and the company gets the contract. In other words the inclusion of a company owned by a woman in a proposal or bid is just a token. It is quite interesting that women are now the target of the candidates for the Presidential election even though in all the rhetoric their 2^nd class classification is still very obvious. Consider the following statements:

   – “Pregnancy does not happen in rape cases”

- “There is no such thing as rape”

- “Abortion should not be legal”

- “Contraceptives should not be covered by health insurance”

‘Binders of women’ is just a phrase but it carries a big message.

It implies that there are no obvious qualified women for the positions in Massachusetts – that resumes or documents had to be collected to find them. Yes, some people will say that submitting a resume is part of the hiring process but seriously, there wasn’t one single woman in the entire state that was good enough to be nominated?  Secretary Hillary Clinton should thank her lucky stars that she did not get the nod because she would have been experiencing the same struggle that President Obama is having had she been elected. It is clear that a certain segment of the US population is not ready for a President that isn’t male and white. When the unusual happens such as the election of the current President it seems there is hell to pay for it.

At the Vancouver Peace Summit in September 2009, the Dalai Lama declared “The world will be saved by the Western woman.” – isn’t it sad to note that the person who can appreciate women the most is someone who does not have a wife? Widows in India are being exiled into camps and shunned by their family, the Taliban shot 16 year old Malala because she expressed her desire and right to go to school. My Asian neighbors walk with their wives following a few feet behind. What is wrong with these pictures? When will the world start treating women with genuine respect and recognition?

Women deserve to be talked about in a manner more respectful than ‘binders of women’. Go out and vote this election and let’s show the world that we can be a force as well!