Being a Woman in America Isn’t Getting Easier

The Women’s March in 2017 seemed like the ebullient dawn of a new wave of feminism once heralded by the lean-in ethos and a growing awareness of the quotidian harassment women faced in the workplace, on campus, or just walking down the street. But, increasingly it seems that the sun never actually rose on a new day. Instead, being a woman in the United States has gotten harder since those heady days of the early Trump years. Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the pandemic has exacerbated new mothers mortality rate, women have seen significant increases in their domestic workloads, just to name a few things.

In an all too familiar feature, this one from Bloomberg Businessweek, Claire Suddath enumerates the myriad ways in which women, who were one of the major driving forces in the US economy for the last 50 years have seen their tenuous gains eroded by economic policy, concerted efforts by the anti-abortion movement, and a system of government that places no emphasis on the necessity of basics like guaranteed time off for new mothers.

Suddath’s article may be a familiar one for many, but it adds to a list of essential reading for exposing how reliant the  US political economy is on women and how little the system gives in return for their sacrifices.