I’m blogging against sexism today, along with hundreds of other cyberfeminists who would like to alleviate the world from some of the burdensome sexist propaganda that keeps our girls from growing up to be everything they want to be. Below are two great helpers in this effort: a short movie and a book that are well-crafted and also convey important messages to girls about the reality of sexism and the importance of fighting for equal opportunity.

Rookie of the Year

I remember seeing this afterschool special as a child. I was probably 6 or 7 years old and it made a tremendous impression on me. In fact, I credit it with planting in me the seed of feminism. Why? Because I watched Jodie Foster as Sharon Lee, the little girl who wanted to play baseball with the boys, and I totally identified with her. I wanted to be that little girl who would fight gender stereotypes.

Now my daughter, age 6, watches the movie. It’s one of her favorites. I love watching it with her, since it absolutely transports me back to my childhood with the strange flutey soundtrack and the scenes of suburbia circa 1975.

In case you haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it in a while, here’s a short synopsis from The New York Times:

ABC Afterschool Special opened its second season with one of its most popular and best-beloved efforts. Eleven-year-old Jodie Foster stars as Sharon Lee, a peppery young baseball enthusiast who lands a spot on her brother’s all-male Little League team. Despite Sharon’s talent and enthusiasm, she runs up against the stone wall of gender prejudice. But by the time we’ve reached the last of the ninth, everyone has learned a valuable lesson — especially the boys! The script for the Emmy-winning Rookie of the Year was written by Gloria Banta, of The Mary Tyler Moore Show fame.

Ruby’s Wish

This book features Ruby, a young girl living in China in the earlier part of last century. The story is rich in realistic detail about the gender lines that were clearly drawn between Ruby and her boy cousins in her grandfather’s Chinese dynasty, a product of his good fortune in the California Gold Rush.

The illustrations, though, are what make this book really magnificent. True to Chinese design and style, they are a joy to study and linger over long after the words have been read.

And now, on a more sobering note, here are some statistics from the National Council for Research on Women, with commentary by blogger Vegankid:

Data on women’s struggle for equality has gone missing in the Bush Administration. The current administration continues to engage in a pattern of omission, distortion, and spin when it comes to information about women and girls. Data on the Department of Labor website has gone missing and the FDA continues to block approval of Emergency Contraception despite research findings that support its use.

Women are still underpaid. Women earn only 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. (Former MA democratic Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy is doing great things to shake this up…check out www.womenaregettingeven.org) Also, can 1 million women against WalMart be hallucinating? This is serious!

Women are still massively underrepresented in the sciences. Despite substantial gains in the number of women pursuing graduate degrees in the sciences, women currently earn only 20% of all PhDs in computer science, less than 27% in physics, and only 17% in engineering. Studies show that women in science experience discrimination and double standards (sorry Larry Summers, but its really true.)

There are too few female tenured professors. Despite the fact that women have been at least half of all college undergraduates since 1978, women represent only 36% of all tenured faculty nationwide, and only 13% of doctoral granting universities boast women presidents. Many women in academic settings report discrimination.

Women are underrepresented in corporate leadership. Women have made up more than 40% of the workforce since 1977, and are currently almost 50%, yet only 9 women are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

Too few women lawyers make partner. Women have been 40% of all law school students since 1995, and over half since 2001, but are only 15% of partners in law firms nationwide. Many female lawyers attest to double standards and discrimination.

Men still dominate the airwaves, music industry, film industry, etc, and are most decisionmakers and critics (often with a silent or not so silent male perspective.) Women make up only 11% of the national experts on Sunday morning political talk shows, and only 6% to 7% of the repeat guests. No major record label is headed by a woman. Most major film studios are headed by men, and nine out of ten music videos are produced by men. For the most part, women need to be sex objects and to be young to be successful in music and to some extent, films, TV. (Men, not so much…can you say Sean Connery? Harrison Ford? Woody Allen? David Letterman? Larry King?) Women are chosen/allowed to direct only 5 – 7 % of major Hollywood films, and rarely are nominated for or win major awards for directing (despite some very talented female directors out there.) This is not just Hollywood insanity — it’s workplace discrimination.

Women are poorer. Women constitute about 70% of the world’s absolute poor – those living on less than a dollar a day. In the United States in 2004, there were 20.1 million women living below the poverty level. Worldwide, women’s access to resources and education still lags behind boys/men due to double standards.

Slavery still exists! Women and girls are the majority of the 800,000 to nearly 4 million people trafficked (bought and sold as property) internationally every year.

We still have a long way to go. I hope you’ll join in today and do something to raise awareness about sexism and how it continues to harm women and girls.