President Obama’s first 100 days represent a triumph for women.
Just six days into his presidency, Obama lifted the global gag rule, which prohibited groups that receive U.S. foreign aid from even discussing abortion.
While not surprising, it did send a reassuring message about his intention of overturning harmful and shortsighted public policies instituted over the last eight years.
The first piece of legislation he signed into law as president was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. That law gives women the ability to challenge unequal pay, which will have direct and meaningful impact on working women from coast to coast and across occupations.
And in his recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Obama provided more than $100 billion to support women and families.
Obama has also put in top positions many extremely accomplished women. They include Janet Napolitano as the secretary of homeland security, Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Hilda Solis as the secretary of labor, Lisa Jackson as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Melody Barnes as the director of domestic policy. More than half of these are women of color. This is more than any other president in the history of the country.
There is great diversity of background in the Obama White House. These appointments are more than just symbolic. Women at the table will have the opportunity to influence the future direction and policies of the country.
Less than a month shy of his 100 days, Obama created the White House Council for Women and Girls, an interagency office designed to ensure that the policies and programs take into account the needs of more than half our population.
The first 100 days of Obama’s administration have given women much to celebrate. We will have more to celebrate if he fills any Supreme Court vacancy with a well-respected female jurist.
Women should be grateful they have a man like Obama in the White House.
C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., is a political scientist and the executive director of the Women of Color Policy Network at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. She is also a senior research fellow at the National Council for Research on Women.This column was produced for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by the Tribune News Service.