EDITORIAL: Fight for your rights
Organization is essential to advances in women's rights
As Women's History Month continues, it is important to recognize the work of women right here on campus.
Over the past few years, women-led registered student organizations have increased their presence at Central Michigan University. We commend women of CMU for taking the initiative to organize. We encourage all students—both men and women—to participate in the fight for equal rights.
Women have made significant strides toward equal rights since earning the right to vote in 1920, but there is still a long way to go. A wage gap between men and women still exists, with women in the United States making roughly 78 percent of what men make in a year, according to the American Association of University Women.
Michigan is ranked 41 out of the 50 states and Washington D.C. according to 2013 data from the American Association of University Women. Women in our state earn only 75 percent of what a man makes in a year.
In Louisiana, the most poorly-ranked state, women are reported to make only 66 percent of what their male counterparts are paid.
Inequality between men and women exists in other areas of the workforce as well. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that only 24 percent of STEM jobs were held by women in 2009.
CMU's growing emphasis on STEM education, including the STEM Education Scholar Program, is a step in the right direction to balance this unequal representation.
In order to overcome adversity and inequality, women must be able to organize. Groups like the Organization of Women Leaders, the Society of Women Engineers and Women in Medicine are the perfect places for college women to become leaders and to bring light to gender-related issues.
Getting involved in these or other women-led or oriented RSOs is easy to do and will only make the conversation louder. Being able to organize, plan events and hold leadership positions is imperative, as women are denied these opportunities more often than men outside the university.
Some groups allow men to participate as members or as guests in events and activities, making it simple for men to join the cause. You don't have to be a woman to advocate for women's rights. The responsibility falls on everyone in society.
Equality is basic and fundamental. Still, it's something that women, along with several other minority groups, are being denied. Now, in the 21st century, there's no reason we can't change that.
Join the fight, and help create the equal society we need.
