As I started writing about how Mainstreet Women define themselves , an article jumped out at me. The Kansas City Star newspaper – Mainstreet Women Paula and Julie’s home – reported History-making leaders are chosen for the Kansas Legislature. [i] The story had been picked up by Governing.com, a daily that curates news stories about our government from across the U.S. The title made me curious enough to read further.

The sub-headline:  “Ray Merrick is Johnson County’s first House speaker since 1982.” Then, sentence two: “Susan Wagle is the first woman to preside over Kansas Senate.”

The article is 39 total lines, of which 26 are devoted to Merrick (along with a picture) and 10 that mention Wagle; “Although Wagle, 59, makes history as the state’s first woman Senate president, she thinks her election is more meaningful in another way:  she is a cancer survivor.”

I reached out to the Star’s reporter, Brad Cooper, to ask why Wagle’s history-making feat got less print. Brad quickly responded and engaged in an appreciated email exchange with me. He pointed me to other newspapers that carried the story. He reminded me that papers gear toward local relevance.

Next step, find other papers that covered the story. The Associated Press reported that Wagle is the FIRST WOMAN ever to preside over EITHER chamber of the Kansas Legislature. Wow! That’s a very big deal as now girls in Kansas know for sure that this is possible. Boys in Kansas can see, and expect, that women lead too.

WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT? Mainstreet Women Question #2: What is really important to you that you want others to know?

The Kansas article reminded me how Mainstreet Women defined themselves by sharing what is really important to them that they’d want others to know. They said that social justice, civil rights and equality are really important to them. In fact, that was the most prevalent response (even edging out family and women friends).

If Wagle’s remarkable election and the accomplishments of other women close to Main Street aren’t equally covered in the news, does that impact Mainstreet Women?

When I asked what they’d tell people about being a woman in America today that might come as a surprise, overwhelmingly Mainstreet Women said that equality is not a reality:

• Diane, NM: Gender and racial equality in America is still a distant dream—we are light years away from that goal.
• Heidi, MT: I think the fight for equality for women is not over in America. I talked to my son about this and he sees that women get to do everything men do. I explained that we don’t have the political representation, that we make around 70 cents for every dollar a man makes, that his Mom is the sole breadwinner. He’d never thought about that.
• Julie, KS: I’ll tell people who aren’t American that we women here are not as free and equal as you would thing. Both in social issues and political representation, we’re not free and equal.
• Stefani, MO: This isn’t so surprising, but I’d tell people that sexism is alive and well. Sometimes I feel like, it’s the same for racism, that we’ve become very clever in hiding it but there’s no doubt sexism is alive and well. A lot of times I feel like a second class citizen:  black and female.

EQUALITY, CHECK by KATE, FL

Kate voiced what many other Mainstreet Women said:

People sort of generally think we’ve gone through all the Women’s Rights ‘stuff’ here in America. I’m fully aware that in other places in the world women are fighting and dying for what we take for granted here. Yet it is a different experience being a women in America than it is being a man in America. It is not equal; women are still up against a lot.

It is still remarkable to me, the differences between being a woman and a man in America. There are goofy things like going to the dry cleaners and it costs more to have my shirt cleaned than my husband’s shirt. Why is that? More seriously, for girls 11, 12, 13, 14 who are moving from adolescence into womanhood, these girls do get slapped in the face by the world. You’re up against sexual violence, being treated differently in classrooms; you realize the world is different for you than for boys, a lot different. You’re not treated equally, paid equally, and it isn’t easy to be a woman.

I think we kind of approach it as, women? We can check that box, we’ve got that done.”

BACK IN KANSAS

The AP quotes Wagle: “I don’t think I was elected because I am a woman. My colleagues elected me because I’m a qualified leader,” she said. [ii]

Ms. Wagle, I’m sure you’re right.

Learning about Wagle made me wonder, if Mainstreet Women actually hold both the consumer and citizen power in the nation, why did most women I talked with get so excited about a chance to have their voices heard? Are we quiet because we’re exhausted just trying to stay afloat on Main Street? Or, are the voices needed to bring about what’s really important to us – equality and social justice – dying by a thousand paper cuts?

GOT $5.00? IDEAS FOR ACTION

Send the book Our Bodies, Ourselves to Congress! Everyone deserves access to accurate, evidence-based information about sex-ed, reproductive health, and women’s bodies — especially those who write the laws! When you back this project y ou’re educating Congress and supporting a respected public interest organization that has provided readers with indispensable information on women’s health for more than 40 years. http://www.indiegogo.com/educate-congress/x/1858962

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