Year of the Woman

Yes, it’s 100 years since American women won the right to vote. And Philadelphia, my home town, will be hosting special events all year. (Look up Vision 2020 for more details.) And for the first time, more American women are in the workforce than men, an event just announced this past week.

But what’s changed for women? One newspaper columnist recently wrote that Elizabeth Warren receives constant sniping from political commentators: she’s too radical (because she admits our rigged economy needs to be fixed) , too wonky (because she actually enjoys discussing policy issues), too opportunistic (because she supposedly claimed Native American heritage to obtain advantages in the workplace, a claim which was never proved true).

As a result of these and other gross deficiencies, the commentators have declared that while they might admire Warren, they won’t count on her to actually win the presidency. She won’t get enough votes to defeat Trump.

Granted, Warren is only one of several distinguished candidates running for the presidency this year. But all the things an assertive political man would do are apparently off limits to her.

What are the commentators and pundits so afraid of? By declaring Warren a loser, they make it a reality and doom Warren’s prospects by infecting voters with their cynicism and outright bias against a smart and capable woman.

So are things changing for women? Not fast enough to suit me. Or our country.