DaMomma talks about the world Colonel (Retired) Eileen Collins (the current shuttle commander) grew up in and contrasts it with today’s world. “Eileen Collins grew up in a world where women didn’t fly planes, much less mega-ton rocket fueled space shuttles. My daughter only knows a world where women do such things and no one thinks much about it.”

What made a difference for me? When I was around eight, I asked an aunt if girls could play professional baseball. She answered they could. I didn’t learn until many years later that she hadn’t just been humoring me. Girls (women, really) HAD played professional baseball–documented fictionally in the 1992 movie, A League of Their Own, starring Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell and others.

I’m immensely proud of the WNBA, because it’s the first visible professional women’s league in my lifetime (at least that I’m aware of). I’d like to see a longer season. I’d like to see it pay well enough that the players could play as their primary job. That depends upon the fans and how much they help the league grow. I couldn’t envision this back in my high school years. NOTE (7/30/05): Clearly, I overlooked golf, tennis, bowling, and probably a few other sports that have been professionally available to women for years.

I was the “first girl to” once or twice in my lifetime. I hope girls today have most doors open to them–I know they don’t have all doors open, but far more are open now than when I was growing up. I reaped the benefits of many women who opened the door before me. In most cases, all I had to do was push a little before walking through.

In gender, religion, and race, we’ve made many strides forward. There are pockets (some cavernous, true) where we have far to go before we put these matters to rest. Periodically, it’s a good idea to look backward on the trail and see how far up the mountain we’ve climbed. In most cases, we’ve traveled further than we think.