In their personal safety, women have freedom, but they are not free. Yesterday, as millions marched for women's rights, 1,871 women were raped in the United States. As others marched, approximately 28,800 women (20 a minute) were the victims of domestic violence. On the same day at least three of those women died due to domestic violence.
In their healthcare, women have freedom, but they are not free. In 1873, the federal Comstock Law was passed. The Comstock Law prevented the sale or the promotion of abortion or contraceptives. In 2016, almost a century and a half later, women and companies were still fighting over whether or not companies should be required to pay for women's contraceptives. Every year in the United States, there are 17.3 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births. As others marched, at least two women had a pregnancy-related death. On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order to start unraveling the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance to pay for contraceptives.
In their occupations, women have freedom, but they are not free. In healthcare, women are assumed to be nurses or secretaries. Female nurses bully other nurses and even female interns more than their male counterparts. Males are more likely to be hospital administrators. Women, regardless of their positions, are asked by men to fetch them coffee. Women are told that if they want a job in healthcare, then they must be a nurse or a caregiver, and their attitudes and demeanor must reflect someone that is caring, compassionate, understanding...and nice. Outside of healthcare, the top professions for women are as administrative assistant and as a teacher. These are professions that place women in traditionally female roles. Even in those roles, white women are paid 78 cents on the dollar (even less for minorities) compared to their male counterparts.
In their education, women have freedom, but they are not free. In medical schools, although women represented 46.7% of enrolled medical school students in 2013, only 7% of the faculty were women. Even though women earn more college degrees, the degrees are in the fields of psychology, the social sciences, and biosciences. In engineering, computer sciences, mathematics, physics, and economics women earn less than 40% of the degrees held in these specialties. The lowest is physics where women earn less than 20% of bachelor's, masters, and doctorate degrees in this field. Despite society's increased need and usage of computers, women earning bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in computer science have decreased over the past 10 years.
In their private lives, women have freedom, but they are not free. A Harvard Business School study found that women felt that they were subject to the societal belief that a woman's priority should be raising children and taking care of the home. The belief may not be held by women themselves, but rather by men or other women surrounding them. Women feel pressured to prove they can have it all and do it all. When they fall short, they are subjected to the societal "I told you so." If they try to achieve more, do more, or be more, then they are criticized for their efforts, whereas men are applauded. Women are often treated like children, whereas others believe they have the "right" to enmesh themselves into a woman's life without invitation and without warrant. Women are not free when there are those who believe that a woman must listen to a man, no matter what his age, simply because he is a man. Women are not free when someone believes they have a right to monitor her in her home without her knowledge or permission. Women are not free when they are bullied by others to try to make them move or are told by anyone when will they learn to "obey" them. Women are not free when they are told that they are the wife/girlfriend/significant other of a minority, and, therefore, they must be submissive. Women are not free when their basic rights as human beings are not respected.
In this country, women have freedom, but they are not free.
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, found online at https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pmss.html
NYCAgainstRape.org, Facts About Sexual Assault, found online at http://listen.nycagainstrape.org/learn.html
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Special Report: Rape and Sexual Assault Victimization Among College-Age Females, 1995-2013, found online at https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. National Statistics, found online at http://ncadv.org/learn-more/statistics
ConnecticutHistory.org. Connecticut and the Comstock Law, found online at http://connecticuthistory.org/connecticut-and-the-comstock-law/
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Women's Health Policy. Private Insurance Coverage of Contraception, found online at http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/private-insurance-coverage-of-contraception/
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Women's Health Policy. Zubik v. Burwell: Contraceptives, Religious Freedom, and the Courts, found online at http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/perspective/zubik-v-burwell-contraceptives-religious-freedom-and-the-courts/
CMS.gov, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. Women's Preventive Services Coverage and Non-Profit Religious Organizations, found online at https://www.cms.gov/cciio/resources/fact-sheets-and-faqs/womens-preven-02012013.html
SCOTUS Blog. Zubik v. Burwell, found online at http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/zubik-v-burwell/
Census.gov. Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015, found online at https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20-578.pdf
Institute for Women's Policy Research. The Gender Wage Gap: 2015; Annual Earnings Differences by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity, found online at http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-2015-annual-earnings-differences-by-gender-race-and-ethnicity
United States Department of Labor, Office of the Secretary. Women's Employment During the Recovery, found online at https://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/femalelaborforce/
American Bar Association. Sex Discrimination in Education: Miles to Go Before We Sleep, found online at http://www.americanbar.org/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/human_rights_vol32_2005/fall2005/hr_Fall05_sexdiscrimination.html
Association of American Medical Colleges. The State of Women in Academic Medicine: The Pipeline and Pathways to Leadership, 2013-2014, found online at https://www.aamc.org/members/gwims/statistics/
Association of American Medical Colleges. TABLE 1: Medical Students, Selected Years, 1965-2013, found online at https://www.aamc.org/download/411782/data/2014_table1.pdf
Association of American Medical Colleges. TABLE 6A: 2013 Benchmarking-Women New Hires and Departures, found online at https://www.aamc.org/download/411794/data/2014_table6a.pdf
National Science Foundation. Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, found online at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/digest/theme2.cfm#compsci
American College of Healthcare Executives. A Comparison of the Career Attainments of Men and Women Healthcare Executives, found online at https://www.ache.org/pubs/research/genderstudy_execsummary.cfm
Harvard Business Review. Rethink What You "Know" About High-Achieving Women, found online at https://hbr.org/2014/12/rethink-what-you-know-about-high-achieving-women
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