In Washington and Around the World

Posted December 22nd, 2009 by Valerie Young

From Your (Wo)manInWashington blog 
MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org
As Your (Wo)man in Washington, I focus on how the public policy work done in the nation’s capital (or perhaps, more often, left undone) will affect your life wherever you are.  From time to time, however, it helps to expand the perspective and listen to women around the world. 

The more I hear their voices, the more I reflect that, while cultural and economic distinctions exist, we are strikingly similar in our passion for justice and a desire to control our own lives.  What a powerful source this affirmation is.  It generates energy to rekindle our own commitment, fuel our desire, and dedicate our voices to the cause of gender equality and maternal dignity.  I found women’s voices today from the Middle East on the blog Girl W/Pen, and they have me tingling with recognition and empathy. 

Our true wealth is in the connections between people, not our national economic output.  The marketplace of goods and services is not an end in itself, but ought to be the means by which we are able to look after, tend to, and provide for the well-being and development of each other and ourselves. 

Women around the world are also engaged in this effort, and removing the hurdles that restrict women’s participation in all manner of public and private life.   In some ways, we have made advances compared to other countries.  In others, such as paid family leave, we have far to go.  But we do better when we are aware of the motherforce’s global reach, draw courage from women’s activism in other countries, and encourage their efforts while pursuing our own.

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