At the end of one day, after a particularly frustrating discussion with Edelsberg, I left the EEOC building with tears streaming down my face. No one had elected me to represent women. But when she came a second time, I was feeling particularly frustrated at the Commission's failure to implement the law for women, and I invited her into my office. Unions, most of which were initially hostile to women's rights, became involved in the struggle. Women are still subject not only to sex discrimination, but if they are older women, women of color, or have disabilities, they may be the victims of multiple discrimination.
Women are still far from being represented equally in political life.
Only three states have women governors. Women are still underrepresented in corporate boardrooms and executive suites and in top positions in academia and unions. They still do not receive equal pay for equal or substantially equal work. We have a disproportionate number of women in poverty, and women in poverty means children in poverty. There are increasing numbers of women and children among the homeless, and we need more safe houses and services for battered women.