A Woman's Work

Wellesley in my hair.

Last night I went to drinks after work downtown.  The bar that I went to was trying to drum up extra post-work business by having an MC come in a run a ridiculous game-style competition for such great prizes as old Santa hats.  The whole thing was completely absurd, but we went along with it -- mostly because the set up was right next to us and couldn't really be avoided.  When it was my turn to participate in the beer pong-style game, the host asked me the usual get-to-know-you questions including where I went to school.  When I answered that I graduated from Wellesley College, he immediately replied, "Is that still an all girls' school?"

In the nine years since I decided to attend Wellesley, I have probably heard answered this question hundreds of times without thinking twice about it.  Depending on my mood, I shoot back a witty retort or a defiant, "Yes, it is and will remain a women's college." It has annoyed me -- the constant obligation to defend and justify the need for women's only education and why I chose it, particularly when I sometimes have mixed feelings about Wellesley myself.  However, it's far from the worst thing that anyone has said to me about Wellesley and it pales in comparison to struggles that some go through to validate their lives and experiences to others.  But yesterday was 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, and after spending the day thinking about the role of women throughout the world, the familiar question stuck with me more than usual.  I knew that I should just forget about it, because the guy clearly didn't mean any harm, but it just got under my skin that, yet again, a man had (probably without realizing it or meaning to) attempted to devalue my education and my experience by seeking both to qualify Wellesley (well, it's good for a girls' school) and imply that notion was outdated or unnecessary.  While ruminating, I was reminded of a piece (excerpt below) I read in the Boston Globe by then-Wellesley senior Eliza Borne about why, in a world where so many assume that we've reached gender equality, we still need women's colleges.  You can read the entire column here.

It's not hard to see why someone, particularly a teenage girl in the throes of her college applications this fall, might scoff at a women's college. Her parents might worry a women's college will leave her ill-equipped to work with men in the future. She might think these schools are an anachronism, and note that the only time she hears about women's colleges is when yet another one decides to go coed, like Rosemont College outside Philadelphia, which in June announced it would admit men next year. She might look at our first female Republican candidate for vice president - or the Democratic candidate who almost made it - and think the glass ceiling we always hear about is finally giving way, and the work of women's colleges is through.

Besides being one of the best colleges in the world, it's also the best place
to watch the Boston marathon.  And to get kissed.

To these arguments, I say: "Do the math." Sixteen out of 100 US senators, eight out of 50 state governors, and one Supreme Court justice are women. I flare my nostrils and utter my least favorite phrase: Wage gap. I ask how many little girls are encouraged to be mechanical engineers when they grow up, or how many people can spontaneously name more than five female artists represented in a major museum's collection. I cite other statistics, noting that alumnae from women's colleges report greater gains in self-confidence and leadership than their sisters from coed schools. Or that women's colleges are historically more socio-economically and ethnically diverse than their coed counterparts, because, with only half the population to draw from, they have always had to cast a wider net.

And then I take a breath - and digress. Confession: I know a lot of smart, spunky women who go to coed schools, all on the path to success. Do I think these women would be better off at a college without men? Not necessarily. What I will say is that a women's college has instilled poise and a hunger for achievement in me, and in my friends here, and that these qualities are direct results of our single-sex education.

...

And when you've got big dreams and there are people like Larry Summers who suggest a woman isn't as innately capable as a man to do well in science, or a female political candidate is judged for her policy and her pearls, it's a good feeling to know you've got an entire campus of professors, administrators, and peers who take you completely seriously. It's encouraging, in a country still run overwhelmingly by men, to look around and see women doing fascinating things - like my friend who helped organize a conference at an interfaith organization in Harlem, or the one who taught Somali refugees at English High School in Jamaica Plain.

The work of women's rights -- in the U.S. and around the world -- is far from over.  Women today do 60% of the world's work and receive just 10% of it's pay.  Women are routinely face discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.  Girls and women throughout the world are under-educated, under-paid and under-employed.  One in four women will experience domestic violence.  In the United States alone, one of every six is a victim of rape or attempted rape.  

However, despite these statistics, women continue to make progress in the fight for equality.  Here are 150 women (including two Wellesley alumnae) who are making a difference in the world.  You'd better take them seriously, because they are seriously awesome.

xo kate