This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It is wonderful for your younger women readers that they have the benefit of the women's equality movement of the latter half of the 20th century, just as women my age (72) are fortunate that women fought for the right to vote and finally achieved it with the 19th amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920, nearly 100 years after the movement began.
Now, nearly 100 years after achieving the right to vote, we finally have a female nominee for president by a major political party. Yes, it is a big deal. If you don't think so, take a look at the (fictional) TV show "Mad Men," which, whatever you think of it as entertainment, accurately depicts the way women were treated in the corporate world of the 1950s and '60s.
I know. I was there. You might also want to consider that full-time year-round women workers still average 77 cents on the dollar compared to men (70 cents on the dollar in Utah, the lowest nationwide). Interestingly, the highest is in Nevada, at 85 cents on the dollar, where gaming workers are unionized. This reflects the fact that in jobs where unions are strong (mostly public employment now), there is less wage disparity.
Please read up on history and women's long struggle for equality before dismissing Hillary Clinton's nomination as "not a big deal." In the words of philosopher George Santayana (often misquoted), "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Chyrle D. See
Murray