#WomensEqualityDay and How You Can Celebrate

Did you know that tomorrow is #WomensEqualityDay?

Women’s Equality Day celebrates the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women in the U.S. the right to vote. This is indeed cause for celebration. But in this quest for leadership parity (especially if we are to accomplish this by 2025) we must always remember that when we achieve a victory – such as gaining the right to vote, the fact that women now hold a record-breaking 18.5% of the seats in Congress, or that Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani recently became the first woman ever to win the Fields Medal: the highest international prize in mathematics – that does not mean we simply “put our banners down”.

We celebrate. We jump up and down. We have some champagne. And then we get back to work.

Because ladies, there is definitely more work to be done.

And so, in honor of #WomensEqualityDay and in the spirit of solutions-driven approaches to reaching gender equality, I recommend checking out the following campaigns and action items to get involved in Women’s Equality Day tomorrow. I will also ask you to please remember this: let’s not confine Women’s Equality Day to just one day… women’s equality is a thread that needs to be woven into every aspect, every level, and every sector of our everyday lives:

Register to vote! The suffragettes fought for our right to vote so that women could have a voice at the decision-making table and The League of Women Voters makes the entire process simple and easy through their education resources. As Carrie Chapman Catt said, the vote is the “emblem of equality.”
MomsRising is doing a #WeMatter advocacy campaign, in which they are making an appeal to Congress. They are focusing this campaign on what they call “family economic security issues”, such as equal pay, affordable childcare, paid maternity/paternity/family leave and sick days, and food justice. So if you’re a mom, and if you also care about these issues – check out more about their campaign here!
You can download the Close the Gap App and take the lead in your career and life by closing the gender wage gap. Remember when I said that we still have a lot of work to do? On average, w omen make 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man. So I invite you to celebrate equality by taking steps in your own lives and asking for what you know you deserve, tapping into your power and gaining the step-by-step process in how to get there. It’s all in the Close the Gap App! The best part? This is not exclusive to Women’s Equality Day, 2014. The Close The Gap App is available 24/7 all year round!
Check out the Vision 2020 education initiative that focuses on “telling the stories of the women in our history who have already demonstrated gender equality, shared leadership and civic engagement.” Women have been taking the lead in this country since the beginning, but yet their stories are not given the proper recognition. So check out these stories of phenomenal women, you may even learn something about American women in U.S. history (or should I say HERstory…) that you never knew before!
Calling all New Yorkers! NYS PowHER is launching the #POWHERLIST Campaign to spotlight the need for increased economic opportunity and fairness for New York women and families. The #POWHERLIST proposes a dozen issues that must be addressed to create economic equality including: Fair wages, Retirement Security, Better Job Opportunities, Affordable Education, Safe, Family Friendly Workplaces, Flexible Schedules, Childcare, Reproductive Options, Close the Wage Gap, Caregiver’s pay, Access to Capital, and Women’s Voices at the Table. Add YOUR list by using the hashtag #POWHERLIST or submit your answers here.

About the Author

Kaitlin Rattigan is a recent graduate with an M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a concentration in Gender and Peacebuilding. She is a firm believer in social media as an effective and meaningful tool to promote positive societal change. Never underestimate the power of 140 characters. Kaitlin is a voice for the Millennials, a constructive disruptionist, an advocate for women’s leadership, and is a believer in challenging and expanding the definitions of what it means to be a feminist. For gender-analytical fem-tastic commentary on current events, follow Kaitlin @KaitlinRattigan. Do you have an issue you want highlighted on The Movement Blog? Is there an area within women’s leadership that you feel passionate about and want to share with a wide audience? Feel free to send Kaitlin a DM or Tweet to @KaitlinRattigan with the hashtag #Women2025 and let’s keep the conversation going and work together to propel women into their equal share of leadership positions by 2025.