EDITORIAL: Women's equality, fair treatment still at
forefront
by Staff Sgt. Phoebe Booker, Equal Opportunity NCO,
U.S. Army Operational Test Command, Fort Hood, Texas
Today, women's equality has
grown to mean much more than just sharing the right to
vote.
Organizations' such as Equality Now and Womankind
Worldwide continue to work to provide women across the
globe with equal opportunities to education and
employment, pushing against suppression and violence
towards women and against the discrimination and
stereotyping which still occur in every society.
Over the last century, great women have proved these
views wrong as the world has witnessed just what women
are capable of achieving, from the likes of Rosa Parks
and Eleanor Roosevelt fighting for civil rights and
equality, to great scientists such as Marie Curie,
Rosalind Franklin and Jane Goodall.
The Department of Defense has its own crop of females
who have risen against all odds, although less
well-known.
Comedian, actor and singer Bea Arthur was a truck driver
and clerk typist in the Marine Corps.
Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody served the Nation for 38 years
and was the first woman to achieve four-star rank in any
military service, and retired as the commander of the
Army materiel Command, where she was in charge of more
than 69,000 employees in the 50 states and 145
countries.
Grace Murray Hopper was an American computer scientist
who earned a master's degree (1930) and a Ph.D. (1934)
in mathematics from Yale. After Pearl Harbor was bombed,
she wanted to serve, but her efforts to join the
military were rejected because of her age and small
size, but she persisted anyway. She joined the U.S.
Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve) in December 1943, and at
79, she retired as a rear admiral.
Eileen Collins is a retired Air Force colonel, first
female astronaut to pilot a Space Shuttle, and was a
flight instructor and test pilot.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery, became an
abolitionist, armed scout and spy for the Army during
the Civil War, rescued slaves via the Underground
Railroad, and was active in the women's suffrage
movement.
Elsie S. Ott pioneered air evacuation of military
casualties during World War II, when as a second
lieutenant, she was the first nurse to prepare injured
for evacuation by air ambulance.
They were all capable of achieving greatness, seizing
opportunities to show and do what they felt was right.
Many of their names are lost to history, but we will
never forget their actions. Social change comes like a
great rising wave on the ocean - powerful, unyielding,
sweeping history along in its path.
Great social change comes about when of a vast movement
of many courageous people, both men and women, refuse to
back down. They were the people who marched day after
day. Despite the fear of violence or verbal attacks,
they returned again and again to continue fighting.
There were women who were arrested and went to prison;
willing to stand up for what they believed in, and once
there, went on hunger strikes and endured beatings and
forced feedings. They were the women who fought for
their daughters' right to vote and to be treated like an
equal citizen. There also were men who were mocked and
laughed at when they spoke to other men of the need for
women's equality.
We must remember today that although we have come a long
way towards equality, there is still much to be done.
Today should remind us to support women's struggles for
equality throughout everyday life -- from the glass
ceilings in our workplaces to the evolving roles in the
home; from opportunities on the sports field to female
leadership in upper echelon boardrooms; from the images
representing women in videos and magazines to the way
women view themselves; from empowering young mothers to
supporting women preparing to retire; from encouraging
greater female involvement in the science and technology
fields to promoting women's campaigns for public office
and leadership in government institutions.
As long as women are underrepresented or misrepresented
in these places and other places in our society, there
is still work to be done. And as long as women around
the world fight for equal rights, the struggle
continues.
~~
As the Army's only independent operational tester, OTC
tests and assesses Army, joint, and multi-service war
fighting systems in realistic operational environments,
using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems
are effective, suitable, and survivable. OTC is required
by public law to test major systems before they are
fielded to its ultimate customer -- the American
Soldier.