Before you accuse us of being among the male elite, consider this:

MacLeod Bellune, the publisher of this little newspaper for almost 30 years, is a woman.

Lou Kennedy, the CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals, one of the most successful businesses in our county, is a woman as are the heads of 2 of our chambers of commerce.

Katrina Shealy and Paula Rawl Calhoon represent us at the Statehouse and Beth Carrigg, Charli Wessinger and Debbie Summers serve on County Council.

We can name dozen of women who serve in other elected offices and dozens of businesses in which women are the CEOs, presidents or proprietors.

Nevertheless, some inequality still exists and, like energy independence, it may come and go.

WalletHiub, a personal fnanace research group. says women get a bad deal here.

Women’s rights in the U.S. have made leaps and bounds since the passage of the 19th Amendment, yet many women still struggle to break the glass ceiling because of unequal treatment, the researchers say.

The gender gap in 21st century America has only expanded.

In 2021, the US failed to place in the top 10, or even the top 25, of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 156 countries based on gender equality.

The US ranked 30th, which is better than last year’s 53rd.

South Carolina ranked 47% in women’s equality, with Texas, Utah and Idaho ranked lower. According to Wallet Hub research, we were:

42nd in earnings gap

33rd in executive positions

15th in work hours

48th in unemployment

37th in entrepreneurship

45th in political office

For the full report, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/ best-and-worst-states-for-women-equality/5835

We neither agree nor disagree with these findings.

We cite them as a way for all of us to examine how women are valued and think of what we should do about it.

To comment on this please email JerryBellune@yahoo.com

What do you think we should do about the inequality of opportunity for women today?