this male says statutory gender equality is long overdue...

i think back to the very early 80's and the effort to pass the equal rights amendment here in the united states...so as i recall this was no long "feminist" treatise or male-bashing, rather it was concise, simple, and historically justified...in fact here's the actual text...

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

but did you know that the era was written in 1923 by alice paul, suffragist leader and founder of the national woman's party...she and the nwp considered the era to be the next necessary step after the 19th amendment (woman suffrage) in guaranteeing "equal justice under law" to all citizens...and the era was introduced into every session of congress between 1923 and 1972, when it was passed and sent to the states for ratification..the seven-year time limit in the era's proposing clause was extended by congress to June 30, 1982, but at the deadline, the era had been ratified by 35 states, leaving it three states short of the 38 required for ratification...it has been reintroduced into every congress since that time....

so this post is more than a simple u.s. history lesson - it's global...

here's the thing -- male domination and subjugation transcends cultural barriers and is responsible for the failure of passage of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) which would establish a minimum set of standards for combating discrimination against women for all signatories (nations)...

but let's return to the u.s. for a second ... while 183 countries have ratified CEDAW the united states is one of only 9 countries that have failed to do so...so who joins the u.s. in opposing legal gender equality...lessee..

there's iran, somalia, qatar, sudan (which includes darfur), tonga, palau, nauru, and oh yes - the cook islands...

that's some company...

back in 1980 i really believed that the era would pass - and it still may - but you can help us work to pass CEDAW while living right here in tennessee by working with the stop violence against women campaign, educating and raising awareness about the ways in which male dominion results in the diminution of dignity for the less privileged, non-male gendered among us...

peace out <3