International Woman's Day and Football

Today is International Women’s Day, a day that started back in 1909 in New York by the Socialist Party of America who did it to remember the strike in 1908 by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.  It became "international" a year later when at the International Women’s Conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark when 100 women from 17 countries wanted women to have equal rights. In 1977 the United Nations General Assembly asked their members to proclaim March 8^th as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace.  

This is what is amazing once again for all their so-called power and might, the United States is so far behind its allies and enemies when it comes to truly recognizing it by ranking 28^th in the Worldwide Gender Gap.  

 Here are some interesting statistics:

-       In the US only 26.1% of the high government positions are held by women

-       Congress has 19.3% is women, with 84 in the House and 20 in the Senate.

-       Fortune 500 companies, going from 0% over 20 years ago, to now having 26 which is still only 5.2%

-       Company boards women now are 17% of positions

-       Work Force shows in 2014 that 47% was women

-       Hawaii, New York, Illinois, Maryland and Vermont are the top ranked States in Gender Equality

-       Wyoming, Texas, South Carolina, Idaho and Utah are the lowest 5

-       37% of women between 25-29 in 2013 have a Bachelors (higher than men)

-       60% of Masters Degrees go to women & 51% of Doctorates in 2013

-       But wage gap is even higher in the 4^th quarter of 2015 women only make 80.4% of men’s earnings.

-       In 2014 African-American women wer paid 63% and Hispanic 54% of white white men were paid.

-       Age is a factor because women make about 90% of men’s salary if they are under 35 but then starts dropping to only 76-81% depending on age.

-       While more have the education, women earn less so it takes longer to pay off.

In 2009 President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which disallows wage discrimination based on sex of employee.  BUT Congress still has not passed the Paycheck Fairness Act introduced in 2013, which will allow women to challenge wage disparities easier.  Another WTF!! Showing over and over that the US needs to wake up and spell EQUALITY!!

Here is two very interesting facts – Rwanda’s government is 60% women AND in celebration of today being International Women’s Day, Air India had an ALL Female crew (pilots and stewardesses) take the flight from New Dehli to San Francisco which makes it the longest all female flight. 

Way to go.http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-03-07/for-international-womens-day-air-india-operates-worlds-longest-all-women-flight?mbid=social_facebook

Women being involved in the professional sports world is slowing gaining stance over the past few years, which is awesome! It is a very hard world to get into and those that do have to struggle with a lot of sexism, put downs and generalization on how they got the job in the first place.  It shouldn't be happening because women are just as strong as men when it comes to so many things and sometimes can even have it organized better.

When reading the cover for Julie Brannagh’s 4^th book in the series Love and Football, called Covering Kendall I almost leapt for joy because it was about a lady who is the General Manager of a professional football team! 

Kendall Tracy is the GM of the San Fran Miners and she has had to work hard for the position and work even harder to keep it. It is not an easy job to do and she must deal with sexism at the workplace all the time.  So with that and the pressure, Kendall has no time for romance. Maybe a fling or two or a chance encounter but there is always the possibility of it being more than that.

Drew McCoy was a well known face in Seattle both on and off the field as he was a star player of the Seattle Sharks. One day when visiting a local bookstore he found out that his favorite author would be signing books he took the chance. Little did he realize that instead of a signed book he would find the woman of his dreams. 

After the heat of the moment, the two of them realized who the other was - a member of the arch rival team.  So they decided to forget the night ever happened and let it go.  But it was way more easier said than done.  They are right for each other, they just have to be willing to take a risk and understand through it all, their romance can work out in the end. 

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Covering-Kendall-Love-Football-Novel-ebook/dp/B00JDKBU1Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Barnes & Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/covering-kendall-julie-brannagh/1120724678?ean=9780062363824

Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/covering-kendall