![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SUT-L-BRY-LATIMES-ARTICLE-01.jpeg\")
A photo of a screen grab of The Los Angeles Times that featured an article \u2013 \u201cFewer want to be just a secretary\u201d \u2013 by Barbara Bry in 1979. (Barbara Bry)<\/p>\n
As you get older, you find yourself looking back at what you did and asking: Does it still matter? Is it still relevant?\u00a0 After I watched the documentary, I looked back. The ERA didn\u2019t get the required votes when its deadline expired in 1982. The Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings in 1991 finally forced sexual harassment into the spotlight, and 1992 was the \u201cYear of the Woman\u201d in Congress. Lilly Ledbetter fought her equal-pay case all the way to a federal law bearing her name in 2009. The #MeToo movement went viral in 2017 and spread around the world. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA in 2020 \u2014 the number needed \u2014 though the amendment is not the law because of the expired deadline. And the gender pay gap? It still exists. As Dolly Parton says in the documentary, we still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n
I confronted both equal pay and sexual harassment issues early in my career, and those experiences are a major reason I co-founded two organizations to empower women: Run Women Run,<\/a> which recruits, trains and supports qualified women seeking elected and appointed office, and Athena STEM<\/a>, which advances women in San Diego\u2019s innovation economy. In both cases, we never wanted special treatment. We only wanted a level playing field.<\/p>\n The question today is the one the documentary poses: Are these issues still relevant?\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I\u2019m excited that Point Loma Nazarene University has chosen \u201cStill Working 9 to 5\u201d<\/a> to open its Illuminate Speaker & Engagement Series<\/a> on Wednesday at 6 p.m.\u00a0 The evening, titled \u201cStories, Work and the Way Forward,\u201d will show clips from the documentary followed by a panel discussion. I\u2019ll be joined on the panel by Venessa Jackson, a retired executive assistant and banker, and Taylor Dunne Woof, program director with Capitol Impact.<\/a> They will share their experiences in the workplace, along with Camille Hardman, the documentary\u2019s producer. Lindsey Lupo, dean of PLNU\u2019s School of Humanities, Arts and Public Engagement, will moderate.<\/p>\n What I like about PLNU\u2019s program is that it isn\u2019t asking anyone to endorse a particular position. The series, free for students and the wider community, seeks to build understanding before judgment, to move beyond reaction toward reflection, and to recognize the humanity behind deeply held convictions. Those are skills we could use more of at every age.<\/p>\n So, does what did I during my life to empower women make a difference?\u00a0 Hopefully, the work of our earlier chapters becomes the foundation for the next generation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Forty-seven years after I wrote that fewer women wanted to be \u201cjust a secretary,\u201d I\u2019ll sit on a stage with women a generation or two younger than I am and compare notes, and I\u2019ll hear from students about their experiences and expectations. My hope is that when they gather to watch this documentary 40 years from now, the questions it asks will finally be history.<\/p>\n