Carol Anne Costa: Thanks Mika!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
In the words of Mika Brzezinski, “Every day I find myself reminding women around me to know their value. I also have to remind myself.” Well gals, it is Women’s History Month and here we are again; celebrating the accomplishments of “herstoric” women, looking back on the past, and remembering with fondness the ever evolving role of women in our society. But, as Mika aptly states, we seem to have to be reminded almost incessantly just how valuable each of us remain to the dynamic culture that is America. While looking back at the pioneers and the trailblazers is, for a least a bit, energizing and motivating, guess what, the time is upon us to continue to blaze trails and be the inspirations for future generations of girls and boys.
What better time than Women’s History Month to look back and move forward. I was born in 1960, a time when girl’s roles were strictly defined and enforced by society. By the time I was 8 years old, I knew I loved sports. Being surrounded by an all male cast of cousins, my fastball, free throw, and ability to hang with the boys was well established. Barbie did not stand a chance, unless of course I could rip her head off and use it for a basketball to shoot game winners into my clothes hamper.
Title IX
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut I digress. I am a child who knew life before Title IX and after Title IX. Believe me, after is much better. But, we did not get here without many hard fought battles. The common misunderstanding about Title IX was that it was all about sports, equal funding and access to competition for girls, but there were other areas of inequality addressed including: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing and technology. Even in the wake of its passage, the history of the Act has been assailed by voluminous court challenges and non compliance issues. Yet ,the women at the fore pressed on; you go girls of the 92nd Congress; Ella Grasso, Louise Hicks, Margaret Heckler, Martha Griffiths,Shirley Chisholm and the Mother of Title IX, Patsy Mink. I love it when you can actually smell the political will! For me, we cannot talk about women's history month and the value of a woman's presence in the chambers of Democracy void of paying homage to these political giants. #myheroines
Look, I am a Mika fan and her current Know Your Value Tour is providing a vehicle for women to reexamine the paths they are on, as well as the paths they have diverted to and even abandoned. This tour is fantastic, as is Mika’s book and the fact that we have to remind ourselves of our value and make conscious decisions to ask for recognition, raises, equal footing and the corner office only indicates the necessity to continue the empowerment of women on the playing fields, in the workplace, boardroom, halls of Congress, and hopefully soon, the White House. So to Mika I say, thank you and I totally adore watching the videos of the women telling their stories and seeking that $10,000.00 bonus, as they represent the progress we have made as a gender. I recommend a trip to the website.
This One’s for the Girls
As it is Women’s History Month, I must end with my tribute to two of the women who made a difference this year, as they trumpeted the confidential audacity which is a model for all women.
Barbara Mikulski, who said, “ Twenty-six years ago, I became the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. I was the first, but I made sure I wasn't the only.” Senator Mikulski is a gem and as this is her last term, I am pretty confident she will leave wearing her once banned pants suit, but more inspired by the fact that there are now 20 women in the Senate, Thank you, Senator Barb!
Mo Ne Davis, who mowed down batter after batter in the Little League World Series. She finally put to rest the, “you throw like a girl” retort forever. This week Mo Ne proved she is a genuine talent as well as a compassionate and forgiving young lady. Mo Ne was the victim of a mean and cowardly Tweet (I refuse to repeat his terrible words) by a Bloomsburg University baseball player named Joey Casselberry. Bloomsburg to their credit, almost immediately excused Casselberry from the team and by doing so exemplified the value of women at the school. But, it was Mo Ne’s reaction to the dismissal of Casselberry which is simply, gracious, forgiving and really really grown up. Davis said this, "Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance," she told ESPN. "... I know right now he's really hurt and I know how hard he worked to get where he is. I mean, I was pretty hurt on my part but I know he's hurting even more," WOW! Thank you, Mo Ne.
These are valuable women, all. As is that woman in the mirror. Do we need to be reminded? Yes! And, thanks to Mika Brzezinski and her motivation, we can all take a minute and even if it is just in your head, make that pitch, tell your story, and celebrate your value! Happy Women’s History Month!
Carol Costa is a public relations and community outreach specialist; she has experience in both the public and private sectors. She is the Chairwoman of the Scituate Democratic Town Committee and has extensive community affairs and public relations experience. She previously served in the Rhode Island Judiciary for nearly 17 years. Carol also enjoyed a successful development stint at the Diocese of Providence as Associate Director for Catholic Education and is currently the Executive Director of the Warren Housing Authority. Her work has been published in several local outlets including GoLocal, Valley Breeze, The Rhode Island Catholic, and Currents Magazine.
Related Slideshow: Women Leading in Rhode Island
Who are some of Rhode Island's high-level female bosses? GoLocal takes a look at some of the leading women in the state in their respective industries, in the private and nonprofit sector.
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