Progress Toward
Women's Freedom and Productivity

Speech Presented by Diane Howard, Ph.D.
Accompanied with a Dramatic Presentation of the Life of Harriet Tubman,
 When Freedom Comes by Dee Hughes
for the Temple, TX, DAR
Oct.  2005

Copyright © 2005

        Freedom has been a dominant theme in our national history. Today I would like to focus on freedom for women and their consequent productivity. It is a privilege to be with the Daughters of the American Revolution today to consider with you how we can encourage the freedom of women all over the world for the general welfare of global societies. When we exercise social responsibility to encourage and mentor younger women to exercise their freedoms for social good, we help to increase their productivity and contributions that provide benefits for the common good. When we exercise our freedoms for constructive social good, we provide role modeling for younger women to use their gifts and talents to benefit their communities. When we support the freedoms of women throughout the world, we help to set them free to serve and enrich
the public life of their societies.

        A fascinating period of personal study related to these issues was during doctoral research, when I conducted research related to the power of female role models. It involved the importance of female role models during WWII and their encouragement of future generations of female leaders. Part of this research involved studying what happened to the women at our university when it was a female-only college during the Second World War. I received many amazing accounts of Mary Hardin-Baylor students, alumni, and faculty experiences through my interviews and compiling or oral histories.

        One such story was of Dr. Allena Pace, who graduated from Mary Hardin-Baylor College in 1939. Dr. Pace accepted a proposal of marriage from a reserved military officer. Her military finance was called in to see the base commander, to answer by endorsement, why he, an officer in the United States Army would
allow his wife to work- as a teacher. After being married in 1941, Allena's military husband was killed in a battle in France in 1944. She served at a junior college as she worked on her master's degree and then her doctorate. She taught wives of veterans who were returning to college and she pioneered adult education.

        Dr. Mildred Fussel enlisted in the WACS. She was one of thirty-six girls who were chosen to work on cryptoquote. Berneeta Peeples, a Belton, TX archivist, who told me the story, said

        … It was a code. They sent code messages. There were thirty-six of them. They lived in separate barracks.
        They never saw anybody but these thirty-six. They were transported in armored trucks from their barracks…
        Strange little messages about Project Manhattan were going. About four o'clock one morning she realized
        that somebody was breathing down her neck. She got through sending that message. She slammed her chair
        back on somebody's toes. And Harry Truman was standing there.

        I heard many remarkable stories about educated women who were able during WWII to enter traditionally male-dominated fields such as higher education, math, science, economics, and journalism. New doors of opportunity were opened for women in fields formerly dominated by men, when the men were siphoned off to the WWII battlefields. Necessity was the mother of invention. However, after the war there was a general effort to encourage women to step away from professional life back into the private arena of the home, so that men who were home from war could reclaim their dominance in public life.

        In the past century and in the beginning of this present one, progress has been made in challenging gender discrimination and in securing equal rights for women aorund the world. But sometimes there have been steps forward and then back again concerning equal professional opportunities for women in public life. There have been laws, treaties, charters, and conventions established around the globe that have affirmed the equal and inalienable rights of human beings, irrespective of gender. Gender-specific protections have advanced the inherent dignity of women and have equalized their standing with men before the law.

       As women have been protected and freed to enter public life, societies have been enriched by their contributions and productivity. Even closed societies like China have made significant efforts to move women into the mainstream of life, to relieve poverty among them, to protect their human rights, and to increase their educational opportunities. These developments and advancements have contributed to economic and social growth and progress in China.

        Women are now being educated in Afghanistan and are participating in the political process. Afghanistan now has its first female provincial governor. This is a big step forward in the political progress of women in that country. Afghan women have become role models for other suppressed women throughout the world. They have demonstrated the importance and value of their being educated and allowed to participate in public life.

        At the present we are considering another female as a potential member of the Supreme Court. Today we have a Secretary of State, Dr. Condelessa Rice, who as a professional role model demonstrates the validity and effectiveness of educated, female leadership. Our nation is enriched at every level by competent, well-trained, and well-educated female citizens.

         We have made advancements toward equal rights, equal opportunities, and therefore greater general productivity for granted. However, we can not take this progress for granted. We have continued to take steps forward; but we have also taken steps backward again throughout history. Women continue to face unfair practices and policies in public life, which only ends up hurting general economic and social progress. Women, simply because they are women, throughout the world and in our country commonly continue to experience unfair, humiliating, and debilitating public and private practices. Discrimination still exists when women are paid less than men for the same or comparable work, when they are denied advancement or promotions, when they are shut out of administrative positions, and when they are subjected to various forms of sexual harassment. Discrimination exists against women when they are denied equal rights and opportunities simply because they are women. In many fields, this discrimination is not necessarily open and obvious, but it frequently exists in subtle and passive aggressive forms.

         Progress has been made toward greater hope and possibilities for women throughout the world and in our country; but women are still generally marginalized in the visceral world. Interestingly, my personal hope for greater possibilities for women is related to my research and work with the virtual world of Cyberspace. It is in the virtual world that women now have a new dimension where they can be more maximally productive. They can participate equally in the virtual world that has less limitations, disenfranchisement, and marginalization. Cyberspace provided by the Internet has offered more freedom, hope, opportunities, and possibilities for women and all marginalized people, as it provides a more equal playing field than what is often experienced in the visceral world. In the virtual world opportunities are seldom limited on the basis of gender or ethnicity. The virtual world can provide a vision for a more equalized visceral one.

        We have seen Dee Hughes perform today the story of Harriet Tubman. She portrayed Harriet's joy in tasting freedom and Harriet's determination to provide freedom for enslaved people. We should thank God for the perseverance of great women like Harriet Tubman and many others, who have sacrificially contributed to the greater good of us all. I have often written and spoken on women's issues and performed stories of leading and pioneering women. This history is rich with the contributions women whose service has benefited people throughout world for posterity. We need to remind ourselves and the general public of the great social contributions that   women of all enthnicities have provided to societies at large.

       However, we still have a way to go for women to be appropriately respected, appreciated, and valued. Women are still generally marginalized around the globe. This is a tragedy, as it hurts the world when women are limited is what they can accomplish, contribute, and produce, simply because they are women. Equal rights and equal opportunities for all produce greater benefits and welfare for all. Fredrick Douglass said, "Right is of no sex - Truth is of no color - God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren."

Sources

Equal rights amendment. Retrieved March 17, 2005 from http://www.apa.org/pi/wpores.html