The Bias Against Women

Thank you for your editorial, “. . . But Not for Women” (Aug. 16).

As shocking as it is, the revelation that women earn 68% of what men earn and that college educated women earn less than male high school dropouts will mean nothing to anyone except the women affected. Does the Administration or, for example, private industry care that by the year 2020, 50% of elderly women living alone will be living in poverty--the equivalent of today’s Social Security benefit of $336 a month?

Does anyone care that women cannot penetrate the real employment market? By real, I mean jobs that pay a salary that will support her and her children and not a part-time job at Wendy’s or McDonald’s. Does it mean anything to anyone that not only do women earn 68% of what males earn, but that older women with advanced degrees cannot even get a job?

This is a world of males, run by males, for males! I have a dream. In my next life, I want to come back as a blond, blue-eyed white male and I hope that all males who fit this description come back as black or Latina women.

Doors of employment opportunity are hopelessly closed to women. The so-called “feminization of poverty” is the spiritual impoverishment of America. A nation that prides itself on democratic principles--America should be ashamed of itself.

Until women have equal access to good jobs, health for themselves and their children and pension benefits so they can grow old with dignity, America will be a farce: To be American is to be young, white and male!

MARIA MELENDEZ

El Segundo