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MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2003

"When I was between 7 and 11, my status in the neighborhood was determined by my brothers' standards. Could I fix my own bike, run as fast as they could, throw a ball for a quick out or did I scream when a frog or spider was tossed down my shirt? My brothers and cousin-brothers were tough on me, but then I was no sissy either and gave them "a good go for their money." For that, I was called a tomboy - a nickname I sported like a trophy.

We aren't really the weaker sex.

Today, girls and young women do all those sports and more. Girls basketball is full-court - we had to play the game half-court. Back then, I guess they were afraid we would get too tired if we ran up and down the entire length of the gym. As if running the length of a gym would have been tiring when compared to carrying a baby nine months then going into 12 hours of labor to give birth.

The turnabout is on my brothers, though. Today, most of them can't run the length of the gym floor for a whole game, either.

When I think about my days as a tomboy, there are times when I wished things were different back than and that I had an opportunity to run the Boston Marathon or take a high-powered carbine into battle - you know those "G.I. Jane" things.

So, there have been changes in the equality between men and women, but the scales still are tipped to one side, said Wendelin Hume, director of women's studies at UND. Unfortunately, society takes it for granted that all is equal now in the gender battle."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Gender equity comes slowly despite great efforts (The Grand Forks Herald 3/15)

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