Luba Fineson, Co-President
What a busy and exciting autumn we had, meeting with women from all around the world!
JAPANESE FEMINISTS: When a group of 14 women from Chikushino, Japan, a small city 30 miles south of Tokyo, planned their October trip to New York, they requested a meeting with American feminists. The women ranged in age from late twenties to mid-sixties, most working in local government, education, and banking. Nobuko Morisaki, a woman interpreter who had lived in New York, accompanied them. They sent us a list of penetrating questions about the structure of NOW, the relative pay of women in America, and the status of working women. On October 20th, Jon Wegienek, Eliza Filipowski, and I met with them to respond to their questions and continue a dialog that had begun three years ago when Jon first met with a prior group. We were also a diverse group, Jon in mid-career, Eliza, our newest member, a student and I retired.
As soon as our dialog started, there were mutual understandings. The Japanese women were aware of many of the changes American feminists had brought about but they were surprised to learn that we still have a long way to go before U.S. women are equal to men. Like Europeans, our visitors thought American women had it all. Nevertheless, domestic violence, divorce, pay equity, political participation, and corporate governance all still need massive work to bring women into parity with men. Eliza presented Labor Department statistics on comparative wages of men and women. In the early 1970’s, American women earned 59 cents to every dollar earned by men; in 1998, women earned 73 cents to the dollar. Although younger wage earners of both sexes earn similar salaries, the gap broadens as workers age. This may indicate that entry level jobs are not differentiated by gender (it may be more difficult to differentiate in the face of federal hiring regulations), but that as people work their way up, the regulations have less effect and the habit of putting men first prevails.
We asked our visitors to tell us what they would like to see accomplished for women in five to ten years. They were concerned about retirement benefits, equal access to jobs, and childcare facilities. Younger women in the group were particularly concerned about quitting their jobs when they had children and being relegated to part-time, dead-end jobs with no benefits and no career value. Ms. Sakae said she would like to see single parents have an easier time and more choices for her children. Ms Funakoshi would like gender-linked jobs eliminated. Ms Kojima hoped for leadership building for women to have a greater voice in society. Ms Okamura said as a dedicated housewife, she would like to see men share more in family life. Ms Matsuo was very moved by Jon’s belief that feminism raises the status of men and children along with women. Ms Kilhara said she would like an organization like NOW to grow in Japan like bamboo and she would join it.
WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN Westchester NOW member Verne Zimmer brought her children to the World March of Women (Marcha mundial de las mujeres) in Washington on October 15th while a group from Westchester NOW including Ellen Luks, Jennie Ries, Jon Wegienek and myself joined the International Rally at the UN on October 17th to demand the elimination of poverty and violence against women. What a fabulous sight it was to see women from 157 countries dressed in brilliantly colorful outfits and chanting for women’s equality and safety in French, Spanish and innumerable other languages. "The women, united, will never be defeated!"
PRO-CHOICE RALLY Several NOW members attended the November 2nd Pro-Choice Rally with Hillary Clinton at Manhattanville College. In their remarks, County Executive Andy Spano and Representative Nita Lowey both credited Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion Director Polly Rothstein with sparking the pro-choice movement in Westchester almost 30 years ago and continuing to lead it vigorously today. Hillary drove the crowd wild, as did the surprise visit of Chelsea. Arlene Ketchum and Deborah Vahab of our chapter got close enough to Hillary at the end of the rally for her to wink at Arlene’s Hillary t-shirt.
CHRISTA BURNS LEAVING
Christa Burns found a fella she likes in Nebraska – and a new job! She is moving there this month, and although we are devastated at losing her brilliant mind and strong presence, we wish her much happiness. Christa joined Westchester NOW in 1996 along with her sister Sarah. But it didn’t start there. Their mother, Janice Burns is President of Saratoga NOW and has involved her daughters in feminist activities since they were little. When Christa got to know our chapter, she volunteered to develop a web page that she updates with breaking news. Christa will maintain the web page in Nebraska until we get a replacement.
