Bright Ideas

I never considered myself a “Feminist.” I was just always instructed by my parents to do my best. That often meant excelling past male students. It was appalling to me to learn some of my fellow, very bright female classmates, might choose to score lower than their boyfriends on tests. Maybe I was lucky not to have a boyfriend.

In the United States, we have countless opportunities and few, if any, liabilities because of our gender. We are free to pursue any future we choose. Politics never interested me when I was younger.

It’s lucky that wasn’t the case in 1916 and again in 1940, when Jeanette Rankin was elected and became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States House of Representatives. She remains the only woman elected to Congress by Montana.

Now girls are encouraged early to explore the math and science fields. Starting early gives them a leg up. Children today, American children, are exposed to more science in grade school than I received in high school. While they may not be pressured to excel, that’s not the case world wide.

Girls in America today are free to become rocket scientists, or chemical explorers for treatments of currently incurable diseases. Women have the freedoms only dreamed about in other cultures. Empowering half of the population can improve a nation’s economy.

Perhaps the most important jobs women can have are mother and teacher. These occupations are often overlooked or devalued. Mothers start everything and can gently guide their children to go out and try new paths.

Teachers take those children and expose them to new concepts. The children rarely realize how much they learn from elementary and secondary teachers, but this learning is the basis for future choices and accomplishments.

International Women's Day was March 8, 2019. Thank the woman or women in your life for all their contributions that enhance your life. Think about it; until next week.