Today is “Women’s Equality Day.” Charlotte Nelson, executive director of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, says it marks passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.Nelson says more women are registered to vote, and more women DO vote, than men — in Iowa and nationwide. Since women got that power in 1920, Nelson says it’s rather amazing how much interest women have taken in being part of the political process. She says women have won many rights since then. At one time women couldn’t have credit in their own names, or work as teachers once they’d gotten married, but Nelson says there are still problems to be overcome like domestic violence, wage disparities and healthcare issues. She says the Commission is still working on womens’ issues. She says the Commission on the Status of Women is looking at longterm care, since more older Iowans are women and more of their caretakers are also women, an issue that’s only going to become more important as the population ages. Nelson says the Commission is also concerned by the fact that Iowans aren’t sending women to Washington, or electing very many to public office.Iowa is one of only five states that have never had a woman governor. Iowa and Missouri are the only two states in the country that have had neither a woman governor nor one in Congress. But the woman who invented “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” is now heading the “White House Project,” a national effort Nelson says will hope to support more women running for offices of all kind. Nelson says the goal of the White House Project is to get more women into office and eventually the White House, with the motto “Go vote — go run — go lead — GO, girl!”
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