Women's Liberation Movement has won many changes for women: the right to wear pants, to get abortions, to become doctors, scientists, construction workers or firefighters, the right not to be harassed by our bosses, belittled by our husbands, or raped by our dates (even though men do still sometimes get away with these things). Because of the feminist movement, men today are better about birth control, housework, and childcare than the generations before them. Recently, we won expanded access to the Morning-After Pill and we're still fighting to make it more accessible to all women and girls. These are big advances that all women benefit from.
But as African-American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has said, "Freedom isn't free." Far from what George W. Bush meant when he ripped off the slogan, Jackson meant that it costs money to fund and sustain our organizations fighting for equality and liberation* -- money for offices, supplies, events, and staffing. If we want a widespread, grassroots movement with the power to win more changes for women, we need every woman to join us and to support the fight.