Patsy Mink
Patsy Mink was Hawaii's Congresswoman from 1965 - 1977 and from 1990 - 2002. She was the first woman of color in The House of Representatives. Mink faced gender discrimination her entire life. When she played high school basketball she wasn't allowed to go past half court because men thought it would be too tiring for women.
|
Although born in Hawaii, Mink had to fight to get to take the Hawaii bar exam because her husband wasn't from there, making her a nonresident. After being denied a job at a law firm, she decided to start her own. "When one door closed, she pushed another one open." Peggy Simpson, We News correspondent.
When she was younger, she wanted to help others She applied for medical school, but got rejected over 12 times. "We don't take women into our medical school," they said even though she had the same education as men. She decided to fight for women's rights to go to college, participate in athletics, and not get judged based on gender. "What you endure is who you are and if you just accept that and do nothing than life goes on but if you see it as a way for change, life doesn't have to be unfair. It can be better. Maybe not for me. I can't change the past, but I can certainly help somebody else in the future so they don't have to go through what I did." Patsy Mink |
"You have to remember in 1973 when I played Bobby, or in 1972 when Title IX was passed, women could not get a credit card on their own without it being cosigned by a male for instance just to give you an example." Billie Jean King
Ads and Cartoons
It wasn't just Mink. Newspaper cartoonists and journalists started to write and draw about sex discrimination. |
|