When I was 22 years old I was one of four women hired to work for a paramilitary government agency. I made a total of eight women to work with about 300 men in our department.
As I approached my 10 year anniversary with the agency I filed an EEOC complaint for discriminatory practices, sexual harassment and retaliation. The complaint lead to a civil lawsuit in Federal Court. The lawsuit was ultimately settled, and as part of that settlement I retired.
I'd like to tell you that it ended there, but it hasn't. I am a victim/witness in a FBI case for continued harassment, intimidation and retaliation.
Photo of a surveillance camera on an utility pole across the street from my former home:
Today I offer a diary that not only gives you a little insight as to who and what I am, but a diary of sharing different International Women's Day observences around the world, women in the news who are being honored, who are raising their voices, who are fighting oppression and inequality against women.
I am a mother and a daughter.
I am writer, blogger, photographer and a kossack!
I am a whistleblower.
I fight for equality.
I Am Woman.
International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's.
A little history:
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.
World Marks International Women's Day
VoA.com
World leaders and international organizations are calling for more rights and opportunities for women in order to help solve many of the world's problems.
The calls come as many parts of the world mark International Women's Day on Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are hosting a reception at the White House Monday to mark the occasion.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday that peace and stability "can only be achieved with the participation of women as equal partners with men." At an event last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world body's goals "stand in jeopardy" because women are still subject to poverty and discrimination.
Air India operates all-women crew flights on Women’s Day
The Hindu
"We can reach great heights," said Rashmi Miranda, Commander of Air India’s Mumbai-New York non-stop long haul flight that flew for the first time on Monday with an all-women crew to mark the International Women’s Day.
There was palpable excitement in the air, as the 14-hour flight with a 19-member crew on board left on schedule at 0130 am from Mumbai.
Captain Miranda along with Captain Sunita Narula were given the command of the Boeing 777-200 long-range aircraft which will fly through 10 time zones. Captain Swati Rawal and Captain Neha Kulkarni will be the first officers.
Iran prevents renowned poet from attending Women's Day in France
Arabnews.com
TEHRAN: Iran on Monday barred renowned poet Simin Behbahani from leaving the country to attend an event marking International Women's Day in Paris, an opposition website reported.
The website Kalame, which belongs to Green Movement leader Mir- Hossein Moussavi, said she was held for several hours by two intelligence officers at IKA airport in Tehran after she had gone through passport control.
March is National Women's History Month
A month to reflect on the history women have made: Connie Schultz
snip
The U.S. Census Bureau offers glimpses into the state of today's American woman: About 82.8 million are mothers, 72 million hold paying jobs and nearly 117,000 own businesses worth $1 million or more. We still earn only 77 cents for every $1 earned by men, but we outnumber men in population, longevity and college degrees.
National Women's History Month used to be an annual wake-up call over how history books had dumped most women from our country's story. When I was a kid, history books depicted men founding countries, waging wars and wiping out indigenous populations. Women were just along for the ride, birthin' babies, making soap and dangling from gallows for our wicked, witch-crafty ways. Sometimes, Pocahontas, Madame Curie and Annie Oakley made appearances. So did Lizzie Borden, just to drive home how bat-crazy we gals can be.
Now, there are entire books dedicated to the contributions of women. A recent one is Gail Collins' masterpiece, "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present." Great book, written by the New York Times columnist who, in 2001, became that paper's first female editorial page editor.
WASP Pilot Carol Brinton (L.A.Times photo)
Women pilots from World War II to be honored
The groundbreaking Women Airforce Service Pilots were buried without military honors and long denied benefits. But now they'll receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
L.A.Times
Reporting from Washington - When World War II beckoned, she was a 24-year-old mother of two daughters, ages 4 and 2. Her husband was a draftsman for Lockheed in Southern California, and her brother became an Army Air Forces pilot.
Carol Brinton longed to become a pilot herself -- "My husband had bad eyes so he couldn't get in, and I've always had a hard time letting my brother get ahead of me in anything," she said -- but the U.S. military had other ideas.
snip
By the time the program was disbanded in December 1944, 38 women pilots had lost their lives. But there were no flags or military honors at their funerals. Their bodies were sent home and buried at their families' expense. The surviving WASP veterans paid their own way home and melted from history's pages.
The military decreed that their existence had never been cleared by Congress, and denied them benefits. Arnold's son Bruce lobbied for their recognition as veterans, a status Congress finally conferred in 1977.
This week, with fewer than 300 WASP members still alive, Congress is bestowing Congressional Gold Medals on all the trailblazing pilots.
Meryl Streep fights discrimination
For Women Only in Haiti