Shelter from the Storm

KEEP THE BETTY FORD LEGACY ALIVE BY FIGHTING FOR FEMINISM

PALM DESERT: July 25, 2011 – Former first lady, Betty Ford, the print and broadcast media were full of stories detailing the many accomplishments of this magnificent woman.

Mrs. Ford was an unabashedly outspoken and self-proclaimed feminist. She dared to use the “B” word (breast) and the “C” word (cancer) together and out loud! She acknowledged struggling with depression, went public with her addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol, spoke out publicly in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, admitted to a facelift and even stated that she would not be surprised if her daughter engaed in premarital sex. Her honesty and courage are legend, and countless thousands if not millions of lives are the better for it.

Therefore, I found it interesting and sadly amusing that in almost every case the media found it necessary to precede the word “feminist” by some sort of qualifier as if the word itself, left naked on the page, would condemn her to infamy.

Phrases such as “a different kind of feminist,” “not a radical feminist,” a “moderate feminist,” “not a bra-burning feminist,” and, my favorite, “a modern feminist” were used ad nauseam, giving rise to the obvious question: “What is a feminist anyway?” and why do so many recoil in horror when they hear the dreaded word?

Does “feminist” conjure up visions of hordes of screaming women with unshaven legs storming El Paseo, dressed in combat boots and fatigues, wielding signs in one hand that furiously proclaim: “men are the enemy” and “kill the oppressor scum” while waving smoldering underwear in the other? Doesn’t sound like Betty Ford or any of the feminists I know.  

Feminism has always demanded that women have political, social and economic rights equal to those of men. Paramount in these demands were the right to vote (which, by the way, was not Ford’s birthright in 1918, the year of her birth), the right to own property, to borrow money, to obtain credit, to maintain control over their reproductive system, to equal pay for equal work, to equal access to universities and post graduate schools, and to hold elected office, just to name a few.

Feminism requires freedom for a woman to dictate her own destiny and to be respected whatever her choice. Whether it be marriage or not, motherhood or not, a career or a combination of all of them or none of them, it is her right to choose. In other words, feminists insist that gender equality apply to all aspects of a woman’s life.

In my lifetime, we have come a long way, but the journey is far from over. Women currently make up 50.7 percent of the U.S. population, yet they occupy only 89 (16.6 percent) of the 535 congressional seats. Of the Fortune 500 companies, only 45 (9 percent) are headed by a woman. U.S. women now earn about 77 cents to every dollar earned by men.

As to “the old boys’ club,” it remains firmly in place. Everyone knows that business deals are consummated on the golf course as often as in the boardroom. Yet rarely, if ever, do you see women included in the “power foursomes.” Even in our own community at least one club that is frequented by male power brokers, including elected officials, continues to completely and expressly exclude women from membership.

So let’s take a moment and reflect upon the courage, candor and tenacity of Betty Ford, as well as other icons of the women’s movement and then commit to continuing their advocacy for all women. We owe them a debt that we can never repay.

Lynn Moriarty is executive director of Shelter from the Storm
Email her at lynn@shelterfromthestorm.com