I found two articles that I felt helped me solidify my thoughts. The first thing I was looking for was some gauge of the effectiveness of what was also billed as a general strike. the New York Times noted that:
"The municipal court in Providence, R.I., shut down because seven of the clerks and a deputy court administrator stayed home from work. Schools in Alexandria, Va.; Chapel Hill-Carrboro, N.C.; and Prince George’s County, Md., closed for the day because so many teachers stayed home."
I found these to be heartening results. Certainly, I had hoped for shut downs which would then ripple through other folds of the fabric of our country. Trials being postponed and therefore days taken off for March 8th will need to be taken off a second time to appear in court. Parents having to scramble to find child care for young students not in school. Maybe one of the parents needed to take the day off to stay home. This, in turn has an effect on the business that that parent works for. Although I knew it most likely wouldn't be a large enough action to cause true havoc, I did hope that there would be more shut downs than the ones listed. But, again, these were good results with consequences that will inform future actions.
Linda Sarsour, who helped chair the event noted that, "this [was] an opportunity to introduce women to different tactics of activism". Prior to yesterday, 30,000 women had pledged on line to participate in one or more of the proscribed protest activities; not going to work, wearing red, and not spending money unless at a woman owned business.
The Times article also pointed out some disappointing realities. Per Todd Gitlin, an author about political movements and a former member of Students for a Democratic Society, "a general strike has to actually stop something from functioning, Anywhere it hasn’t done that can’t be counted as a success. It plays to your inner audience, not your outer audience." The article also spoke to the fact that a large number of women could not stay away from their work place because they could not afford the loss of pay and the very real possibility of losing their jobs. This limited the number of women that could participate in the most visible way possible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/us/a-day-without-a-woman.html?_r=0
Reinforcing this last point, Maureen Shaw, a feminist writer, wrote, "This feels very much like a protest of the privileged – and frankly, unrealistic. Tens of millions of women have neither the benefits nor the flexibility to take the day off in protest.” Ms Shaw was quoted in The Gaurdian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/a-day-without-a-woman-strike-feminist-protest-trump
In reading and thinking about the outcomes and how a more effective action can take place in the future, I thought of the following. Rather than an overarching general strike, I see efforts focused on a particular industry may be more successful. For instance, I heard today that approximately 72% of all teachers are women. National Teacher's Day is May 8th. Certainly with the assistance of the National Education Association (NEA), a one day strike will demonstrate how an absence of women can bring the nation's school systems to a grinding halt. The NEA describes itself as, "the nation's largest professional employee organization, [and] is committed to advancing the cause of public education. [The} NEA [has] 3 million members." Not only would this put a fine point on women's necessity to provide education for our youth, but it would simultaneously underscore the absolute need for public education, thereby placing devoss on her heals.
http://www.nea.org/home/2580.htm
Another industry that is heavily dependent on women is health care. I am not suggesting that peoples' lives be put in danger by having the most critical of these workers leave the work place for a day. However, it would send a powerful message if all non-critical women in health care stayed off of the job for one day, nationwide. A good day for this might be Women’s Health & Fitness Day Wednesday, September 27, or maybe May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s Birthday. This one would be more difficult to organize due to the lack of a centralized organization that brings all health care workers together.
With these types of industry specific, targeted actions, a 'strike' can have just the effect that Todd Gitlin talks about, "to actually stop something from functioning". So........these are my thoughts around just how important women are to all facets of our society and ways that women can make the point loudly and clearly. As Aretha sang, "R-E-S-P-ECT, find out what it means to me". In this case to women!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/us/a-day-without-a-woman.html?_r=0
Reinforcing this last point, Maureen Shaw, a feminist writer, wrote, "This feels very much like a protest of the privileged – and frankly, unrealistic. Tens of millions of women have neither the benefits nor the flexibility to take the day off in protest.” Ms Shaw was quoted in The Gaurdian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/a-day-without-a-woman-strike-feminist-protest-trump
In reading and thinking about the outcomes and how a more effective action can take place in the future, I thought of the following. Rather than an overarching general strike, I see efforts focused on a particular industry may be more successful. For instance, I heard today that approximately 72% of all teachers are women. National Teacher's Day is May 8th. Certainly with the assistance of the National Education Association (NEA), a one day strike will demonstrate how an absence of women can bring the nation's school systems to a grinding halt. The NEA describes itself as, "the nation's largest professional employee organization, [and] is committed to advancing the cause of public education. [The} NEA [has] 3 million members." Not only would this put a fine point on women's necessity to provide education for our youth, but it would simultaneously underscore the absolute need for public education, thereby placing devoss on her heals.
http://www.nea.org/home/2580.htm
Another industry that is heavily dependent on women is health care. I am not suggesting that peoples' lives be put in danger by having the most critical of these workers leave the work place for a day. However, it would send a powerful message if all non-critical women in health care stayed off of the job for one day, nationwide. A good day for this might be Women’s Health & Fitness Day Wednesday, September 27, or maybe May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s Birthday. This one would be more difficult to organize due to the lack of a centralized organization that brings all health care workers together.
With these types of industry specific, targeted actions, a 'strike' can have just the effect that Todd Gitlin talks about, "to actually stop something from functioning". So........these are my thoughts around just how important women are to all facets of our society and ways that women can make the point loudly and clearly. As Aretha sang, "R-E-S-P-ECT, find out what it means to me". In this case to women!
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