I recently read an article, at what seems like the official website dealing with today being International Women’s Day. In the article, the discussion was about parity; a lovely word similar in it’s meaning to equality, specifically for women with men. In this article, their original projection for parity was that it might not happen till around the Year 2095; but by the time the article went to press, they had revised that projection upwards to the Year 2133! That’s a mere 117 years from now, ladies and gents!
So, after reading this, some friends and I were talking about these statistics. While we certainly understand the need for solidarity in hoping for parity by 2095, to me that is not acceptable! It’s just not soon enough. I would love to see it in our lifetime! I don’t know about you, but I’m now 40 and I am NOT quite that patient – especially when I see so many women suffering on a daily basis at the hands of their male counterparts!
Let’s take a moment to break ‘parity’ down a bit more into an acronym. I find it easier for me to remember the definition of the word, and I hope that it does the same for you.
Parity…
Peers
Aspiring to
Receive
Identical
Treatment
YESTERDAY
Peers. What is it to actually be a peer? I believe if we look at being a peer as being a small part of a very large family with many, many sisters and brothers, we will start to change our views on what is and is not acceptable. You may get away with picking on me sometimes, but you had better not pick on my sister!
Aspiring. I love this word! For me it is a clear picture similar to climbing a mountain or reaching out for help when I know I can’t get there by myself. Maybe you or I are not yet in the position of parity in our world. However, if we aspire to be in that position and work in solidarity with each other, we can get there much quicker and much more easily together than we can alone!
Receive. What is this all about? Well, something that I have always thought about treatment is that we are treated no better or worse than we expect or allow in a situation. That may sound unrealistic and I realize that there are certainly some exceptions, especially in relationships instead of in a professional setting. Often in relationships, abuse may not always start until after the wedding or even after the children. However, think back to when you were dating. Whether you realised it or not, you did not have to go out on a second date or, for that matter, continue a first date when you realised that you were out with a man who was not treating you in the manner you felt that they should be, you were free to stop seeing them. But did you???
Ladies, in our relationships, marriages and professional lives, we can and should expect to be treated with parity and with great love. We deserve it and we are worthy.
Identical. This is a big one, ladies. Suzie Q is just as deserving of parity in her life as I am in mine. She is every bit my peer and my sister and I expect her to be treated well. Now, most of us don’t have too much of a hard time believing or at least mentally assenting to that. Let me flip the script for a second sisters of the world. I am just as worthy of being treated well and with perfect parity as Mr Rupert Murdoch or Sir Richard Branson. Gulp. Silence. Say it with me, my soul sisters, my fellow Warrior Queens. I. AM. WORTHY! Now breathe in deeply and slowly and then say it again…and again.
YESTERDAY. Yesterday is not even close to soon enough for parity in our world for every woman everywhere! I am not satisfied even a little bit with 117 years before things are made right! I expect and believe in the end of human trafficking. I expect and believe in the end of it being acceptable for a woman or man to live in abusive or unsafe situations. And I expect and believe that parity is not for 2095 or 2133, but for 2016! We need this yesterday, my sisters of the world; my sister friends! YESTERDAY! What could we not do if we stand in our power together and link our arms and pledge to be a part of changing our world? Let’s do it; YESTERDAY!!!
