“The police officer who answers your call for assistance next month may be wearing a skirt and carrying a purse but is expected to be as qualified and capable as any other member of the RCMP.
“Word has been officially received that one of the first 30 female graduates of RCMP training is to receive her first posting in Salmon Arm. She is Constable Beverley Ann MacDonald, who is expected to arrive here in early March.”
These words made up a front-page article in the Feb. 19, 1975 issue of the Observer entitled “First female police member.”
Even though she was a woman, Ms. MacDonald was “expected to be” as qualified and capable as the men. I’m guessing she probably put down that purse containing her hairbrush, lipstick, perfume and chicken pot pie recipe every now and then in order to arrest a perpetrator.
The article was written 56 years after Canadian women were successful in their fight to vote in federal elections and 46 years after they won their fight to be recognized as “persons” by the Supreme Court.
Change can be slow. It’s generally not easy for people – on all sides of discrimination – to change their views and beliefs. Perhaps one of the most unfortunate effects of being discriminated against is that the victim can, on some level, begin to believe and internalize the prevailing view.
Women have made lots of progress over the years, most of which has not come without a fight – but there’s still so much to be done. This year, the United Nations’ theme for International Women’s Day, which has been celebrated since 1911 and takes place this Sunday, recognizes that need.
‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity – Picture It’ points to the fact that social justice and equitable treatment for women does not benefit only women. Take domestic violence as an example. A survey last year captured data for one day from shelters across Canada who responded. More than 4,100 women and 2,400 children were sheltered that day.
Although not all perpetrators of violence against women and children are men, most are. Yet there is little help available for men. Nor does the system adequately stop them. A true solution to domestic violence would include adequate supports for families, so cycles of abuse are not repeated, so boys, and girls, learn at a young age about kindness, equality, respect, appropriate ways to deal with conflict and more. Males are not the enemy; men can be, in fact, the perfect allies for women.
So many changes are needed. Remedying all the unpaid and low-wage work that women do would also go a long way toward empowerment.
This Sunday, my hope is there will be a celebration of the achievements gained, but also a realistic look at what each of us, both men and women, can do to ‘empower women, empower humanity.’ I hope, too, that headlines 40 years from now (on those holographic retina implants we might be using), will paint a much different picture of how women are viewed than those in 1975.
