'Shriver Report' Shows Equality For Women Benefits Society, Former Secs. Of State Say In Politico Opinion Piece

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 28 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The "most intriguing aspects" of the trends documented in "The Shriver Report" -- a study on the roles women play in the U.S. work force that was led by California first lady Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress -- are "the implications for women across the globe," former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, both members of the study's advisory committee, write in a Politico opinion piece.

The report found that women for the first time make up 50% of the U.S. labor force and are the "primary or co-equal breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of American families," Rice and Albright write. They add that the rise of women in the labor force also has contributed to a "significant shift in social attitudes" about issues such as equal pay for women and men.

According to Rice and Albright, the "changing landscape of the American family and work force has been made possible only by extending equal opportunities for women in the classroom, in the boardroom and at the ballot box." Such equality "empowers women with the freedom of choice -- the universal right to determine their own destinies, careers, beliefs and family structures" -- they write. "When women have the power to make their own choices, the chains of poverty can be broken, families are strengthened and socially constructive values are more likely to be handed down to the young," Rice and Albright continue.

However, "[w]hen women are treated as chattel, ... the symptoms of social and moral decay are almost certain to spread," they write, adding, "A society that is not decent to women is not a decent society, and an indecent society is a dangerous one." For example, the Taliban's repression of women in Afghanistan "festered into a society that condoned terrorists who turned to violence against innocents as a form of political expression," Rice and Albright write. Similar societies "ultimately pose the greatest threats to global security" and "must not be allowed to succeed," they add.

Although Rice and Albright write they "do not presume that the American model is the only correct one," they add that "we must extend to all societies the universal right of women to choose their own fortunes." The Shriver report "offers a path to such a future by shining a spotlight on the important gains that American women have made in the national economy," particularly showing the "ability of people who believe in the need for change to alter deeply ingrained social attitudes through the steady application of pressure and persuasion," they continue. The report "provides a timely and hopefully motivating course for a world in which the right kind of change is still desperately needed in countries where too many women remain without a choice," Rice and Albright conclude (Albright/Rice, Politico, 10/27).

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