I was taught to keep my head down, stay on the path, and get my job done. Like all little girls, I was taught to be grateful. Women are learning that we can be grateful for what we have and also demand what we deserve. But as you know, women of Barnard, change is here. I was so grateful to receive any respect at all for myself that I often missed opportunities to demand equality for all of us. Grateful to be one of the only women to have a seat at the table. When we talk about what the pay gap costs us, lets be clear: it costs us our very lives.Īnd it hit me that I’d spent most of my time during my career the same way I’d spent my time on that ESPYs stage. Over time, the pay gap means women are able to invest less and save less, so they have to work longer. What we need to talk about more is the aggregate and compounding effects of the pay gap on women’s lives. Black women in America earn 63 cents, while Latinas earn 54 cents, for every dollar paid to white men. women earn 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. Later that night, back in my hotel room, I laid in bed and thought: this isn’t just about me, and this isn’t just about soccer. Their hustling days were over, and mine were just beginning. Because of that, they had something else I didn’t have: freedom. Because Kobe and Peyton walked away from their careers with something I didn’t have: enormous bank accounts. But our retirements wouldn’t be the same at all. And as I watched those men walk off the stage, it dawned on me that the three of us were stepping into very different futures.Įach of us, Kobe, Peyton and I - we made the same sacrifices, we shed the same amount of blood sweat and tears, we’d left it all on the field for decades with the same ferocity, talent and commitment. Then the applause ended and it was time for the three of us to exit stage left. I had a momentary feeling of having arrived - like we women had finally made it. I felt so grateful to be there, included in the company of Kobe and Peyton. We all stood on stage together and watched the highlights of our careers with the cameras rolling and the fans cheering, and I looked around and had a moment of awe. I received my award along with two other incredible athletes: basketball’s Kobe Bryant and football’s Peyton Manning. I was humbled, of course, to be regarded as an icon. So it went like this: ESPN called and told me they were going to honor me with their inaugural icon award. But they sent me a really expensive fancy stylist. I had to get dressed up for that, just like you got dressed up for this. Mine was the ESPYs, a nationally televised sports award show. The world tries to distract us from our fear during these transitions by creating fancy ceremonies for us. I went through a terrifying transition recently when I retired from soccer. And to each of the 619 badass women of the Barnard graduating class of 2018: Congratulations, you guys, congratulations!ĭoesn’t it feel like the second you figure anything out in life, it ends and you’re forced to start all over again? Experts call these times of life, “transitions.” I call them terrifying. Greetings to President Beilock, Provost, Dean, Barnard faculty, trustees, and honorees Katherine Johnson, Anna Quindlen, and Rhea Suh.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |