Don't Forget to Wear a Hat on August 26 for Women's Equality DAY

Ladies, break out your dancing shoes and your finest frippery. August 26 is Women's Equality Day. As the National Women’s History Project explains, Women’s Equality Day came about through the efforts of Bella Abzug (known her feminism and giant hats) in 1971 to commemorate the 19th amendment, which passed eighty-six years ago this week. (Quick reminder: the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.) The suffragists’ struggles were well told in the fantastic HBO movie Iron Eagles, which made me cry when I saw it while I was working out at the gym. (So beware because there is the danger of falling off the treadmill in these situations. The movie also features ginormous hats.)

Hurray! We have a whole day for equality! Who would have thought it possible that, in the year of 2006, we’d have this day?!?

Yes, I am being completely facetious, but once in awhile I do stop and think that we’ve made some pretty damn impressive progress, much of it in the last 40 or so years. Is there a long way to go? Damn straight. Not to rain on the Women’s Equality Day parade, but my suspicion is that the interests of many women (i.e. – non-white, low income, non-hetero) are overlooked on this special day.

As I learned in my Yiddish phrase book yesterday, genug ist genug (enough is enough)! Still, the women who forged the path ahead of us deserve to be commemorated for their work and hat wearing on our behalf. In their honor, we should absolutely celebrate Women’s Equality Day - and I will do so by wearing a big hat with a gaudy flower - but we should also continue to move towards Everyone’s Equality Years.