PrevailingWoman_Spring17_WebReady

There was a skeleton crew of two men and the
councilwoman running the ship. One of her
male assistants directed me back to her office
where Helen was waiting for me dressed head
to toe in red - a clear declaration of her support
for the cause.

My goal in talking to Helen was to figure out if That leads me to me third stop: A rally and protest an Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
a strike was the best option to get the message I spoke to many teachers, but one in particular stood out the most; her name is Zoe Buckwalter.
of pay (in)equity to the masses AND have it ef-
fect change. Ariane: What do you say to people
who don’t think a strike is the best way to show
the impact of women in society?

Helen: There are a lot of ways to show impact Zoe: I want my students to know [the value of] the work that women do...especially my girls. When
and a strike is one of them. I think it’s import- they grow up and they’re working and not being paid enough and they’re working in unfair condi-
ant for strikes to occur and to remind people to tions [I need them to know] they have the right to demand better conditions and I want to show
pay attention to what it means to have women’s them how to do that.
work, paid and unpaid be a part of our society...
It this city sometimes we have to make noise It was clear to me that the teachers who chose to observe the strike were also doing their part to
and strike and then come back to work the next help teach our young women that women are capable of accomplishing the same tasks as men.
day to try to make change.
It was also clear to me that a day without women (in the workplace) did not mean a day without
Well on that day, in that building work was work. In fact, from my point of view, there was There is so much work to do and there are many
definitely being done to combat party disparities women ready and will to do it, but we need more. I’ll leave you with a story from Vanessa about
based on gender. As I was leaving the building, how we need to instill in our young girls the belief that they are CAPABLE, they are ENOUGH
heading back to the studio to present my story and they are the KEY to a future that values and promotes EQUALITY.
on-air I ran into a female teacher and some
of her female students who were gathering at Vanessa: I recently attended The Ready to Run program put on by the Pennsylvania Center for
City Hall for a round table discussion about the Women & Politics (PCWP). Dana Brown, the Executive Director of PCWP, ended the event with
issue. her “ Asparagus Story.” My apologies if I get any of the exact facts wrong. She explained that a
friend was asked to work on the staff of a new Governor. The Governor tasked the friend with
Teachers were a major cause of tension on that reaching out to individuals the Governor wanted to appoint to fill various positions. The friend
day. When an entire school district in Alexan- called the first name on her list, a woman, and explained to her that the Governor would be hon-
dria, VA was forced to close for the day because ored to appoint her to the Asparagus* Committee (*not really Asparagus). The potential appointee
so many teachers call out many people took to explained that she loved asparagus, she fed her kids asparagus every day, she studied asparagus her
Facebook to express their frustrations. whole life—but—she just didn’t think she knew enough about asparagus to help the Governor and,
thus, she must decline the appointment. The friend then called the next name on her list for the As-
I read through an extraordinary number of their paragus Committee appointment, a man. The friend explained to the man that the Governor would
posts. The overwhelming question: Did striking be honored to appoint him to the Asparagus Committee, and he accepted.
for this particular cause go against teachers’
commitment to providing an education to their We all have had an Asparagus moment. But, this little story is a good reminder that we must re-
students? member not second-guess our worth, knowledge, and capabilities. And eat your asparagus!

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