?All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than
others,? wrote George Orwell in Animal Farm, thus
inspiring the archetype of the sexist pig. Secretary of Education
Rod Paige took a similar stance recently when he pledged his
support for Title IX?a law mandating equity for women in public
education?then later proposed guidelines allowing ?a reasonable
variance.? If implemented, such changes would alter public policy
regarding graduate school admissions, scholarships, and university
hiring, reports Richard Goldstein in The Village Voice.
Yet, Paige continues to commit to Title IX, thus giving ?the
impression that he favors equality.?
When it comes to women?s rights, this
?attack-and-cover-strategy? is the modus operandi of the Bush
administration. After proclaiming Women?s Equality Day, President
Bush drained the funding from the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and the women?s equity office at the Department of
Education. At his senate confirmation hearing, Wade Horn of the
Department of Health and Human Services stated he was against
promoting marriage via welfare, then, upon appointment, attempted
to withhold funds from unmarried mothers and cohabitating couples.
Even scarier than the administration?s hypocrisy is its moral
superiority. As a physician, Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory
Committee member David Hager refused to discuss contraception with
unwed female patients and prescribed prayer to remedy PMS.
President Bush has refused contraceptive coverage for federal
employees.
Why haven?t more Americans expressed their outrage over these
attacks? Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women?s
Organizations, explains, ?They?re doing it through regs, policy
changes, executive orders. All of this under the radar for most
citizens.? To learn more, see New York Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney?s fact sheet about Bush?s global war on women?s
rights.
?Erin Ferdinand
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