As we look back on Women’s History Month 2024, we get a chance to think about the progress women have made. One of the things being highlighted is the disparity when it comes to actions generated by women and men.
For one, since the month began, a somewhat resolution to the issue in Fulton County, Georgia, regarding the handling of Donald Trumps’s conspiracy and racketeering case has generated a great deal of controversy.
Some of you may recall that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, during the process of overseeing a case against Donald Trump, allegedly acted in such a manner that she has been accused of inappropriate behavior. It is suspected that she sought to benefit financially by appointing a former lover as Special Prosecutor, Nathan Wade, to work on the case.
The judge, after much deliberation, came to the conclusion that DA Willis acted very poorly, even though it was determined that she was not guilty of impropriety. They say she demonstrated poor judgment by hiring a former lover.
A lot of people, including Black people, jumped on the bandwagon in attacking DA Willis. If closer scrutiny is utilized, it might uncover the wildly unbalanced treatment she has received.
We have a male former president who is running for president, on trial for actual improprieties. He has multiple indictments against him, but he put a cog in the wheel by attacking Willis, resulting in delays in his trial proceedings. Trump has been blatant in his attempts to derail the charges, and has managed to deflect attention from himself and onto Fani Willis.
The bottom line is that there is still a long way to go when it comes to leveling the playing field between women and men, and that women still have perception issues as roadblocks in the quest for being treated with equality. The improprieties Fani Willis is accused of are nowhere near those demonstrated by Trump, yet there are people who behave as though Fani Willis has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, not Trump.
Of course, some of this behavior can be attributed to the unique set of circumstances surrounding Donald Trump; he is somewhat of a “Teflon Don” who has been able to uniquely skew the political environment in such a manner that he is able to influence his fellow party members, as well as others, to treat him with kid gloves.
But that doesn’t cancel out the fact that a qualified government operative who happens to be a Black woman has been neutralized to such an extent that even Black people are calling for her to step down from the case.
In the long run, the previously mentioned situation demonstrates that women still have a higher rope to climb than men have, and a lot of their treatment is perception based. In other words, it is doubtful that a man would garner as much criticism as Willis has, while just doing her job.
Essentially, women are still faced with unfair judgment regarding their actions in a manner that men do not have to deal with; there is still a misogyny factor that has to be addressed by women if they are to reach real parity.
Moreover, there appears to be renewed blowback coming from certain types of men who are intimidated by the progress women are making.
For example, a growing number of men are renewing the ancient trope that women are inferior to men, and that a woman’s life has no meaning unless it is connected with staying at home raising children. No doubt, that is a very important role that women will continue to play; it is also true, however, that it will be very necessary for them to continue assuming more responsibility in politics, science, the corporate world, and more. Based on the success many women are demonstrating, their expertise is needed.
With that said, the observance of Women’s History Month remains a necessary strategy to help women liberate themselves so they can continue to contribute effectively to society as well as to domestic tranquility. A Luta Continua.
