As we strive to meet our AAUW mission “to advance equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy“, we are inspired by the women both well-known and private.  Here are some of Her Stories. 

Kamala Harris

by Asha Bajaj, Public Policy

We now have a new Washington administration with our first woman Vice President!  Please click here to read about Kamala Harris

Women’s Equality: What Was it Like for You, Mom?

by Beth Clark, Advocate editor

The articles that were written about Ruth Bader Ginsburg after she died brought back memories of some of my experiences related to women’s rights and discrimination against women. I talked with my daughter about how much RGB had achieved for women, and I also told her about some of my experiences. She was very surprised, having not known much about RGB and having not experienced the same roadblocks herself. It occurred to me that because AAUW works on improving rights for women, it would be good to have a column that would help young women learn about where we’ve come from.  After all, it’s hard to gauge how well you’re doing if you don’t know where you came from. Click here to read this series of moving stories.

Do you want to tell us about your experiences?

If you want to share your experiences with each other and with the young women in our lives, please send them to the Advocate Editor, Beth Clark and I can make this a multi-month article. For example, what kind of messaging did you get about what you could and couldn’t do as a woman? What roadblocks did you encounter because you were a woman? Were there any successes you had because you were a woman, things that were not available to men? Include the approximate year and where you were living at the time. You can send just one line or a short story about your experiences. If you don’t want your name mentioned, please let me know. Feel free to share experiences of friends also.

Disclaimer: Our group is composed of college-educated women in the suburbs. So, our experiences are not necessarily representative of the experiences of a lot of women in America or in the world. But sharing our experiences here can be a starting place.