Fantasy v- Reality

Maria Shriver and Christie Hefner were recently interviewed on NBC about how women are portrayed in the media. Check NBC online for information.

You may ask why as a Soroptimist, or as a woman, should I be concerned about the results. Here are some of the facts:

US Dept of labor’s 2008 statistics indicate the top five jobs women hold: secretaries and administrative assistants, registered nurses, elementary and middle school teachers, cashiers and retail sales. Life isn’t so accurately reflected on TV where women and girls get the impression that motivated females balance family, career, and social needs with every problem solved in one or two episodes.

Even attempts at no-frills, middle income American women portray women in a less than favorable light. Definitely an unrealistic portrait. Today’s women generally appear silly, almost dumb and dependent on the attractive male partner or boss. The only exception I could think of right now is ‘Ugly Betty’ as struggling to become independent.

I have pondered these issues before since I have a daughter. I thought maybe I was highly sensitive since I was a product of the ‘70s when we looked to Mary Tyler Moore and Billy Jean King as barrier breakers.

When we looked at the Dove Project, then decided to work as a club with the YWCA’s DiscoverME programs, it made me realize that we - mothers, aunts, grandmas, working women – are responsible for seeing that the youngest generation have good role models to build on. The desire to be just like Meredith Gray, Lynnette Scavo, or Temperance Bones isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but girls need real women to temper the fantasy and support them through the real life challenges/choices they’ll face before they achieve those dreams.

We, the working women of the 21st Century, must help guide, support, mentor, and encourage those who will come behind us. Instead of a year where the first woman wins a Noble Prize, we'll be celebrating the successes of many!

Ingredients for Life

More than one club or organization has a mission statement or one of its core values the importance of women helping women or women helping girls. I think it is natural for us to want to help each other, share experiences, maybe even save others from similar misfortunes.

My teenage daughter and I saw Julie and Julia together recently. We share a passion for cooking. What I hadn’t expected was how much more we both learned about each other on the ride home after the movie.

Julia Childs didn’t settle for a French cooking class for housewives, she insisted on being part of the class for professional cooks – all male in those days. Young women and girls don’t experience those limitations today.

Both Julie and Julia discovered they had a passion for cooking. That passion led their lives/careers into new directions. Both women also had wonderfully supporting husbands; not the ‘yes dear’ but fully engaged support that most of us seek from our girlfriends.

Soon SITK members will have an opportunity to be fully engaged and support young girls. I’m so excited about this. There will be diverse ways for us to interact so that time or skills won’t limit our involvement. I encourage all of us to be involved as we really can make a difference - we can help them discover themselves and their passion for life. We can help them find the ingredients for life so they can create their own 'recipes!'