Chicago Tribune Letters to the Editor
I am a young Indian woman who was born here and strongly believes in women’s rights, which are at a critical point in this country. I believe it’s time we address the challenges head on.
From the persistent wage gap to the erosion of reproductive freedoms, women still face significant barriers to full equality. Despite all the progress we’ve made, women still earn, on average, 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. The disparity is even greater for Black and Latina women, who earn just 70 and 65 cents, respectively. These are more than statistics — they are a reality that affects families’ financial stability and limits economic growth. We need stronger laws that require pay transparency and hold employers accountable for pay discrimination.
The 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade was a devastating blow to women’s rights. Millions of women have lost access to safe and legal abortions, and this disproportionately affects low-income communities and women in rural areas who already face health care barriers.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly 1 in 4 women will need abortion care by the time they are 45. This isn’t a fringe issue — it’s a vital part of health care. Congress must act now to codify reproductive rights because every woman deserves the freedom to make decisions about her own body.
Additionally, we cannot ignore the ongoing fight for safety and equality in education and public life. Gender-based violence remains a crisis, with 1 in 3 women experiencing some form of violence in their lifetime. Legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act provides vital resources, but more funding and enforcement are needed. At the same time, Title IX protections for students continue to face challenges, putting young women at risk of discrimination and harassment in schools.
Women’s rights are human rights. Ensuring equality in pay, health care, safety and education isn’t just the right thing to do; it benefits everyone.
We need leaders who will make these issues a priority, and we need citizens who will demand it. The future depends on it.
— Shriya Harish, student, Barrington High School, Barrington
If this is the crap BHS is teaching our kids, we’re in big trouble.
Right on sister.
What exactly is “abortion care”? And perhaps read the Supreme Court decision which vests states with the right to establish laws related to access to legal abortions.
Ms. Harish is young but has clearly digested a lifetime of left-wing talking points shoved down her throat from every angle – her ethnic homeland, parents, the Democrat Party, “educators”, the media, Hollywood, musical “artists”, etc. She’s one of their beloved apparatchiks in training. Next stop is the university for some real indoctrination.
But let’s start at the beginning. She believes ‘women’s rights are at a critical point in America’. Could it be she’s concerned about losing the current female domination in higher education (almost 60% of U.S. college students are female)? Or, could she be worried about the female dominance in professions such as Veterinary medicine (80% of graduates are female) or Pediatric medicine (74% of graduates are female)? Guessing Ms. Harish believes 20% males is just still too much oppressive patriarchy in those professions. Ms. Harish doesn’t think too deeply about the sociological issues of women gaining more degrees and earning more money than men. Apparently, she hasn’t yet explored the genetic drive of female hypergamy and instinctual male necessities in the mating process or the resulting impact on marriages and birth rates.
Ms. Harish also repeats the age-old debunked Democrat talking point – the dreaded wage gap. Yes, men still earn more. But, when accounting for career timeline gaps, muscular work which pays more, and higher paying STEM careers which women show little interest despite massive incentives for them to think otherwise, the difference in gender pay is negligible. Somebody has to give birth and raise children. It’s only the most important job on earth. And no matter how hard the Democrats try to invert Gods Will, only females are physically equipped and emotionally suited for this role.
Mr. Harish then moves to lament the overturning of Roe v. Wade which SCOTUS correctly sent back to the States for local debate and determination. But apparently, in the leftist world the ability to legally kill your baby is sacrosanct and must be federally codified or they will never be satisfied.
We are currently living in a heavily feminized culture that has poisoned just about everything in its path and placed our once great nation on perhaps an irreversible path to destruction. Feelings, emotions, fiction and fallacy trump facts, reason, reality and accountability. Thank God we are finally now seeing a resurgence in conservative masculinity. Hopefully it’s not too late.
Amen, Thomas. And, as a middle aged white female in a profession once dominated by men, I can attest that what I earn has never been based on my sex, but rather on the quality of the work performed. What a novel concept.
While I fully agree with the importance of advancing equality and inclusion, my direct interactions with the Barrington school leadership reveal a stark contrast between their words and actions. The district constantly promotes ‘inclusion’ and other values in weekly video blogs, social media posts, and self-congratulatory communications. Yet, when it comes to accepting feedback or being held accountable for their lack of meaningful action, they fail miserably.
In my discussions with the superintendent and staff, I’ve witnessed an unwillingness to address real concerns or take responsibility for ongoing issues—be it fiscal irresponsibility, ideological bias, or a lack of genuine leadership. Their focus remains on optics rather than solutions, using surface-driven ‘success stories’ to distract from the deeper problems they refuse to acknowledge or tackle.
True inclusion and leadership require accountability, transparency, and a willingness to engage in difficult conversations—not just a polished PR front. Without these qualities, the values they claim to uphold are nothing more than hollow slogans.
Having engaged with the superintendent, I’ve witnessed firsthand how their surface-level ‘inclusion’ rhetoric often masks deeper issues of mismanagement and lack of genuine accountability. It’s clear that the priorities in this district are more about appearances than addressing the real needs of students and families.
Their focus seems to be more on optics than outcomes.