The Rise to the Top
By Alaina Blay
2013 – The year of the women
It’s time to get it right, get all the true facts in
We’re about to take the universe where it hasn’t been
The war against women, we still have to win.
Women, so strong, have so much to offer
But because of physical standards we are forced to suffer.
From the tops of our heads down to our toes,
Constantly judged from what the outside shows.
Just last year, a woman from NBC news,
Ann Curry was fired for wearing bright colors and flat shoes.
With a few strands of grey, she said no to the dye,
So NBC said sorry, get out, good-bye!
Ann Curry questioned herself, the words came right out of her mouth
All of the worrying and all of the self-doubt.
She told everyone, “I don’t understand my worth,
What does my attire have to do with my work?”
Worried if she is good enough, many women end up with this problem,
But from a small problem into a disease – it blossoms.
It has become nothing but a “chronic condition for women”,
Because of this judgment, it’s like a hole we constantly have to fill in.
And a few months ago, back in December,
A story made me so mad, I’ll always remember
Melissa Nelson, a dental assistant from Iowa
For being too attractive, they decided to fire her.
Being too attractive? A reason too senseless for her boss not to be insane.
Firing her for that reason? Sorry natural beauty shouldn’t be something
a woman should have to tame.
Dressing in her scrubs, she was an ‘irresistible attraction’?
A ‘threat to his marriage’? It’s HIS fault he made her a big distraction!
And to hear that her dismissal was completely legal?
Now that is something absolutely unbelievable.
Especially now, in this day and age,
We are still blindly in the ‘fight against women’ phase.
How does that even make any sense?!
A ruling of 7-0 from a court full of the opposite sex?
Unfair? No that’s not even the word;
Preposterous nonsense, downright absurd!
Not only are we being discriminated by our looks,
But also by what we make, written down in salary books.
There hasn’t been much progress there, so there’s much to improve
Things will start changing once we make the big move.
Tell me how a woman still makes $0.77 for every man’s dollar,
By the time we reach parity, my future grandson will be a father.
Just to let you know, I’m only twenty-one years old,
And I’m not waiting that long for this dream ending to unfold.
They might say it’s over, but there’s still discrimination
Against women in the workforce around the whole nation.
So many women dismissed under wrongful termination
And while most of us go unheard of what we really need is salvation.
Successful career women being discriminated against,
As a whole, we are underestimated so let’s fight back in defense!
But we have to be strong, persistent and do what makes sense,
No matter what, ladies, we’ll get over that fence.
For so many years we’ve tried rising to the top,
But until we all find equality we are never going to stop.
Remember the year, its 2013
Yes we can make it if we all work as a team!
© Alaina Blay 2013
Sources:
Melissa Nelson: Judges…
Ann Curry fired…
Pay Equity & Discrimination…
Photo Info:
Philippines, 2008
