One is supposed to write "a year in review" post before the year is over. I have serious problems with that, because as with rear view mirrors, the objects you see are closer than they appear. They are also fuzzy and amorphous. It's like trying to look at your heels while standing, to see the last mile of walking you have done: difficult and pointless.
Except for discussing who-did-what, of course, or the major accidents or deaths or changes in laws. I could do that. I could write about the good things for women this last year, because there were a few: The repeal of the Global Gag Rule, the Lily Ledbetter Act. But what I'd really want to have is access to data on all women on this earth and to the analyses which tell what has gotten better for them, as a class or a subclass in their culture, and what has gotten worse. Ultimately, the interesting question to me is whether the lot of women is slowly improving or not, and that's not something I can answer by looking at my heels.
So right now my rear view mirror glance just tells me that nobody is careening towards me there in a SUV out of control. And that's enough, for the time being. The driving will continue just as the struggle will continue.
My love to all of you who drive with me.