Obligation. It is a recurring theme seen throughout many of First Lady Michelle Obama’s speeches. It was also the theme of Teresa Younger’s ‘Women, Race, and Economic Recovery’ presentation Monday night at Fairfield’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library.

She began her speech by quoting the First Lady: ‘We have an obligation to create a world as we want it to be.’

Pausing for a few moments, Younger went on to say with a hopeful smile that she was intrigued by ‘Mo’s’ vision.

Instead of creating the ideal world, however, Younger explained ‘we pit people.’ Society is constantly being divided into categories such as men vs. women, white vs. black, and gay vs. straight. Of these categories, women, who make up 51 percent of the population, are actually considered to be the minority.

One of the most challenging obstacles women face is wage disparity. A woman makes 78 cents to every $1 a man earns. But even worse, a woman of color makes 59 cents to every $1 a man makes.

Younger shared a survey that found that in order to support a family of one parent and one child in upper Fairfield County costs $57,000 a year. With the minimum wage at $8 an hour, 76 percent of Connecticut women can barely afford to buy the basic necessities for their families without government assistance.

As Director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), Younger’s job is to work on improving all public policy for Connecticut women monitoring up to 250 legislative bills. Some of the major policies she fights for are the elimination of gender discrimination, job security, and adequate healthcare for women and their children.

The PCSW has even helped sort through the extreme sexual harassment issues that exist in Connecticut’s state police force. There is only one woman in a leadership position out of the 1,000 women troopers. The PCSW has also provided sexual harassment training for 10,000 state employees.

Due to the current economic situation, many women’s groups across the country are forced to shut down. The PCSW is a permanent institution written into law, but Younger said, ‘We are in the middle of Limbo Land, too.’

According to Younger, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has put forth a budget for the group that is inadequate by about $2 billion.

Wanda Szarell ’11 said, ‘I’m surprised a female governor wouldn’t be more supportive.’

The reason for this seems to be because the governor is satisfied with the female presence at the capital, even though there is only one Latino and five African American female representatives. Out of these five African Americans, only one holds a leadership role in the executive branch.

President Obama recently signed an order creating a White House Council on Women and Girls, which Younger is enthusiastic about. She also trusts his work toward economic recovery will help Connecticut women, saying it is a ‘bold and brave step forward for this administration.’

At the end of her presentation, Younger urged the audience to pick up the phone and talk to their legislators.

‘It takes five phone calls and the world falls down,’ she said.

The consensus among the audience was complete and utter shock over the statistics Younger presented.

‘I didn’t realize the scope of everything,’ said Katie Carroll ’09. ‘The statistics are most sobering and inspire people to take action.’

With another budget hearing in June, Younger believes it is her obligation to keep fighting for more government support. Without agencies like the PCSW, she wonders, ‘Who will ask why?’

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.