In overall gender discrimination the state of Arkansas ranks 41st out of 50 behind Mississippi 30th and Alabama 33rd. Almost all of the low rankings are in southern states, where women’s rights have long languished. The survey covers equal pay, political appointment, health care, and several other critical items all of which are places where gender discriminations occurs. But I know some of you who are reading this don’t believe women are discriminated against. Sure, women have equal rights, but that doesn’t keep them from suffering discrimination. Equal rights also doesn’t mean women get equal pay for doing the same job as men, and equal rights certainly doesn’t keep corporation boards and public commissions from being made up of all men.
Of course, it’s worldwide discrimination that women are subjected to. Up until recently, in Saudi Arabia, women couldn’t even drive a car unless accompanied by a man. Yes, it clearly is a worldwide problem, but it can be tackled locally. Of course, we Americans always like to think we’re leading the world in just about everything you can imagine, and hey, we’re doing that in a lot of ways, and I couldn’t be prouder of our country, but gender equality is not something to brag about.
Just to give you an example of how far behind we are, let’s consider the new cabinet members of Spain: 11 are women and 6 are men. It’s almost impossible to even imagine an American Presidential cabinet having a majority of women. That’s how far behind we are, and most of the entrenched men who make up the leadership of our corporations, state, and government entities, the ones who make the promotions and appointments, consider a token woman equal representation.
If we consider the inequality of women on a worldwide basis, the economic potential that would result if we elevated women too an equal position is staggering. One study says if women worldwide were brought to equal status with men, productivity and the subsequent creation of goods would soar as much as one trillion dollars a year. Naturally, that translates into a giant increase in a worldwide standard of living.
Let’s consider just a couple of the all-male Arkansas boards, and for a moment forget about the hundreds more and several thousand additional boards with a token women: First the Arkansas Highway Commission: If an equal number of women were on that board, I don’t have a doubt that our highway right-of-ways would be more attractive, and that the 50 yards of bare ground on either side of our roads would be reduced, and we wouldn’t have an interstate running through a historic neighborhood. If the Game and Fish Commission had an equal number of women, the lakes and rivers that have Game and Fish facilities would be more attractive, have proper restrooms, and the Commission’s publications would feature recipes and other ways to prepare wildlife. And to mention another board with a token woman if women were equally represented on the Board of Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Quality, there wouldn’t be a hog farm on the Buffalo River Watershed and Arkansas would have adopted all the standards of the National Clean Water Act. Those are just my observation from working around women. If you want a job done give it to a busy women. She’ll get it done.
Across this country there are thousands of all male boards. Can anyone say the only qualified candidates for these positions are men? Of course not. So why do our male elected officials, continue to appoint a much higher percentage of men, and appoint only men to certain boards? Of course it’s discrimination. There is no other word for it. It is discrimination as sure as the South’s Jim Crow laws were, and don’t give me that old whine, “It has always been a male board.”
I’ll continue the Gender Discrimination in Arkansas column with a question for the candidates for governor, Asa Hutchinson, Jared Henderson, and Mark West.
To the candidates: The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the State Highway Commission are all male appointees. Will you commit to appoint a woman to the board of each of the above commissions when the next vacancy occurs, and will you work to promote gender equality on all of the boards and commissions under your authority?
To the candidates: This is a yes or no question, and any other answer such as “the most qualified candidate” or “no answer,” will be considered a “no” and be published as a “no” in my column. Actually, trying to hide under the “best candidate” is so discriminatory that it’s a disgrace to infer that out of over a million Arkansas women there aren’t two that are qualified for the above noted commissions. And just to be sure the candidates can’t say they didn’t read my column, I’m sending them the question by registered mail.
Of course, trying to hide behind, “It’s always been a male only board, or men are more qualified because they hunt or fish or drive more trucks or more business orientated to business is just trying to come up with reason to discriminate against the +50% of the population in our fair state. For a person to say “Equal pay for equal work would be hardship on many employers,” deserves a slap in the face—-if I were a women—-and a man said that to me. The facts are self-evident with the thousands upon thousands of women across our state who keep our economy humming, while doing the work for so many male company heads.
On January 1st, 2018, Iceland became the first country in the world to make pay inequality illegal. Companies that cannot prove pay equality will be fined almost $500 a day if the gap continues to exist. Yes, equal pay for equal work is a worldwide problem, and we do need the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) to move the process along.
Studies have shown that having an equal number of women on a board or commission actually greatly improves the work and mission of the commission. Even a token woman board member matters to. Companies in every sector, not just tech, perform 5 percent better when they have even just one woman on the board, according to Credit Suisse, which examined 3,000 companies. There is a current bill just signed by the governor of California that mandate at least one woman on every company board headquartered in the state.
The two state commissions I listed are just a fraction of the boards and commissions across the state, but they are glaring examples of the inequality present in every community in the state, and if you don’t think that’s a true statement, check with your city hall. You will be shocked.
The intent of this column is to focus on the gender inequality present on the most visible of the many state boards and commissions, but the problem begins in the selection of local boards and commissions. I urge you to confront your local candidates for elective office to commit publically to work for equal representation by women on all city boards.
Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email richard@ gibraltarenergy.com.