International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day, which started 100 years ago.

More than half — about 52 percent — of the world population is female. Women do two-thirds of the world’s work but receive only 10 percent of the world’s income. If the recession continues for a long period of time, half of the U.S. workforce may be female for the first time. Equal pay for men and women has been a law since 1963, but in 2007 U.S. women were paid 77 cents for every $1 a man was paid.

I work in the media, so I was surprised to find out that only 21 percent of all news subjects are female. Women make up only about a third of daily newsrooms; minority women account for less than a fifth. But more women are majoring in journalism than men.

Only 31 women have ever been governor — and from only 23 of the 50 states.

That leaves a huge gap to equality.

“A Powerful Noise” — a documentary about the lives of three women overcoming barriers in day-to-day life — recently debuted in theaters across the U.S.