| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN IS STILL A CONCERN
I'm not a feminist, nor a screaming equal rights advocate, but its easy to see that women and minorities sometimes get the smaller piece of pie in life. I don't go around confronting injustice, but have no qualms about enjoying the victories won by my militant sisters. They have begun to win a few battles in the legal system and make room for more equal treatment under the law.
Some instances of female preference have come about almost by accident. In 1925, Texas Governor Pat Neff appointed the world's first all-woman supreme court. They were three women who broke barriers and made names for themselves in legal practice: Hortense Sparks Ward, the first woman to pass the Texas bar in1910. She was a court stenographer who passed the bar after taking correspondent courses. Nellie Gray Robertson, the second appointee, was County Attorney for Hood County, and Hattie Leah Henenberg, who had passed the bar after three years of law school at night while working as a secretary to a Dallas lawyer by day.
The governor didn't appoint the trio because of their superior qualifications. A combination of requirements made it impossible for him to fill the places with men. The appointees had to meet these qualifications: (a) must never have fought a duel, (b) have seven years experience, and (c) not belong to Woodmen of the World. Even the male lawyers who met the first two qualifications belonged to that fraternity, many for the insurance.
Whatever the reasons, Texas made history, but that did not mean equality for women. That was before women could sit on juries!
After Bill Ham died, his wife, my sister, applied for a credit card and was refused (can you imagine, no credit card) because she was a woman. They told her she could get one in her husband's name, even though they knew he was deceased.
With the push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, some states began to change some old laws in preparation. My mother had always wanted a grandfather clock. About 1978, on her 80th birthday, I decided she had waited long enough. So, her sister and I made a down payment and I went to the bank to borrow the money to finish paying for the clock. The loan officer, in Lubbock, took all the information including my salary, prepared the note and then said, "You will need to take this home and get your husband's signature."
I got up to leave saying, "This is not his loan. It is mine. Thank you for your time."
He called me back, said, "Just a minute," and went to his boss. They did agree to loan me the money and I established credit in my own name. Now, I can get credit cards--by the thousands.
After Ray retired, while I was still employed, I went to buy a car. Ray went with me to help choose and because women usually pay more for cars than men, they don't bargain as much--but the salesman talked to him and not to me. That happened again after we moved here. Even though Ray told the man I was the one buying the car, he talked football to Ray instead of car highlights to me. I didn't buy from either salesman.
Women earn less than men in similar jobs--but they pay more for similar services and goods. A woman pays more for a haircut. Dry cleaners, in many places, charge more to do a woman's blouse than for a man's shirt. The initial cost of the shirt and blouse, of identical material, was higher for the blouse.
About the only exception to the rule of gender identified goods and services being higher for females is automobile and life insurance. Those, based on driving records and longevity, favor the female.
The battle for equality in schools continues, for students and teachers. As a math student I was warned by one college professor that, "girls never make A's in my class." I had to make more on home work than my male companions for the same grade. Many times in meetings of various kinds my suggestions were ignored while the same ideas, submitted my a man, met with glowing praise.
No, I'm not bitter, nor an adamant fighter--but neither am I blind and unfeeling.
I consider my being feminine a blessing, not a handicap. God created woman to fill a need, to be a special creature with definite qualities to make her valuable and respected. Equal value and treatment under the law is spelled out, though many times ignored even now. Equal treatment in other respects should not have to be legislated--Abraham Lincoln just forgot to say "all men and women were created equal"--in his day and age he would have been run out of office for such sentiments.
Most of us, of the female pattern, are not looking for special treatment because of our gender. We do appreciate being valued as thinking, reasoning human beings worthy of respect. It's wonderful when we have the freedom and recognition due both men and women. Life would be short and dull if all females were alike and all males were alike and all of one gender. Thank God for diversity!