Affirmative Action For Our Money -- As The Country Goes More And More Broke
Gotta get somebody with a vagina on one of our country's pieces of paper money, thinks the oddly zombie-like Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew. (Side note: What did he do with all the people in D.C.?)
Yeah, that should be our priority. Our country is beyond deep in debt, but we're hanging a brand new set of curtains on our money supply. As a commenter at the WaPo wrote:
i wonder if future historians will note the irony that as the federal reserve destroyed the dollar by printing trillions of themWhich vagina person will appear on our money is unclear. Adorably (and I do not actually mean that), Lew wants your suggestions! (Is this the USA or a segment on the Today show?)
From the Ylan Q. Mui and Abby Ohlheiser WaPo story on this:
"Young girls across this country will soon be able to see an inspiring woman on the ten dollar bill who helped shape our country into what it is today and know that they too can grow up and do something great for their country," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who introduced a bill in April to get a female face onto American currency, said in a statement. "Make no mistake, this is a historic announcement and a big step forward."
No, it's insulting to have a potentially lesser person on the dollar bill with the big requirement that she be more of a woman in our country's history than other women were.
As another commenter at the WaPo wrote:
Name one woman whose accomplishments shaped American history more than Alexander Hamilton. There isn't one. Sorry if that's because women have been held back by the culture. Wait another 100 or so years, and maybe someone will come along who wasn't something stupid like first lady or who only had one teeny moment of fame in the front of a bus or something.
Lew video via @JoshBarro
I nominate Caitlyn Jenner.
Ken R at June 18, 2015 4:39 AM
I am so sick of being pandered to. Will these idiots ever stop trying to rewrite history to suit what they perceive as equality now?
momof4 at June 18, 2015 5:23 AM
The media hasn't been talking about it much, but Hillary is running for president. So, we're going to need women to pay attention. We're sure that talking a lot about birth control, abortion, rape and the accomplishments of female historical figures will do the trick.
Allison at June 18, 2015 6:01 AM
The worst part is, it will probably wind up being someone who played absolutely no role in American history, except in a negative sense, like Eleanor Roosevelt or Betty Freidan. Grace Hopper? Never heard of her.
Cousin Dave at June 18, 2015 6:24 AM
Seems an appropriately useless government project, and a timely one too, considering that the government is attempting to get rid of the cash economy anyway.
Isab at June 18, 2015 7:21 AM
Hillary? Heck, she's already been elected president by the people who actually decide these things. Everything else over the next 18 months is just window dressing.
The corporate/government/media machine is already working to produce the desired result. You think it's a coincidence that - just now - they've decided to put a woman on the $10 bill? If Hillary isn't the woman, she will certainly be bandied about as a candidate - free publicity.
If all that turns out to be insufficient, the graveyards will vote, or the results will simply be altered. It's already a done deal, no need to go to the voting station.
a_random_guy at June 18, 2015 7:34 AM
Open to public suggestions. Hmmm, Jenner or one of the Kardasians comes to mind.
Want to see some heads implode suggest Nancy Regan or Sarah Palin.
Joe j at June 18, 2015 12:00 PM
I nominate, not necessarily in this order: Hello Kitty, Bette Midler, my mother, my dog, and Nancy Drew.
Amy Alkon at June 18, 2015 1:10 PM
Grace Hopper? Never heard of her.
Posted by: Cousin Dave at June 18, 2015 6:24 AM
You obviously haven't read much about computer history.
Granted, I doubt I would know the name Alan Turing well if it weren't for "The Imitation Game" - but I certainly knew, for the last 20 years, the names of Charles Babbage, who died in 1871, and Ada Lovelace, who worked with him and died in 1852. (She was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron, BTW.) My point is, they were both famous Brits - but most historians agree that when it comes to the women in computer history, at least, the American computer scientist and rear admiral Grace Hopper was easily the most important, so she really should be better known - and yes, I've known her name for the last 20 years too. (Many non-experts mistakenly believe Lovelace was the most important woman in computer history - maybe just because she was born 90 years before Hopper and managed to do all her work before she died at age 36. Her 200th anniversary is this December.)
lenona at June 18, 2015 1:55 PM
"By law, only a portrait of a deceased person may be included on banknotes"
Snoopy at June 18, 2015 2:17 PM
I'm cool with a woman on a bill, but ditching Alexander Hamilton chaps my hide. Jettison Andrew Jackson like everyone said.
I like Harriet Tubman as a candidate. Eleanor Roosevelt is too politically oriented.
It would be cool to a scientist (male or female). I kept my German mark note that not only had Gauss, it had the Gaussian plot AND the equation. Not gonna happen in this country, though.
Astra at June 18, 2015 3:01 PM
I vote for Lisa De Leeuw.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19319
Steve Daniels at June 18, 2015 3:54 PM
Why even a person? Why not something like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution?
Yes, I know that there are such things on the reverse of some bills; but, why not on the front?
Why not an animal? Canada has the loony and the beaver on its coins. Why shouldn't we do something like that on our bills?
Or maybe a map of the US; maybe, just maybe, someone might actually learn US geography when they look at the money. (nah! that wouldn't happen)
But, lastly, considering my first suggestion - a thing and a lady - the Statue of Liberty. It is, after all, her 130 birthday. They should have gotten ready for that or maybe they can get ready for her 135.
I could get into hearing someone say "Hey, I'm a little short. Could you spot me a liberty 'til payday?"
charles at June 18, 2015 5:43 PM
"You obviously haven't read much about computer history."
My dear Lenona, I know you enjoy picturing me as an ignorant redneck, because I've had the audacity to disagree with some of your opinions. I know good and damn well who Grace Hopper is. When I was an undergraduate, I attended two of her lectures. Even back in the primitive, unenlightened depths of the 1980s, everyone in the computer field knew who Grace Hopper was. The point I was making, which you obviously missed, is that most of your feminist pals have never heard of her, and wouldn't consider her "authentically female" if they had.
Now, for your challenge, you tell me who Presper Eckert was. No cheating with Google.
Cousin Dave at June 19, 2015 7:25 AM
Presper Eckert (1919-1995): Co-inventor of ENIAC and designer of UNIVAC. Yes, I read about him 20 years ago too - courtesy of Russ Walter's "Secret Guide to Computers" which is in its 32nd edition right now. (He also mentions, in the section on artificial intelligence, the 13th-century Ramon Lull - and Jonathan Swift's nose-thumbing of Lull's machine in "A Voyage to Laputa." Read the short Swift passage here: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/arc/training/vi/example2 - it's in the second half.)
Where exactly did you imply that anyone besides YOU hadn't heard of Grace Hopper? (Yes, some people ARE nominating Grace Hopper for the $10 bill - which is also why I assumed you meant you didn't know her name.)
lenona at June 19, 2015 9:15 AM
As a descendant of Alexander Hamilton I am more than mildly upset by this. He was not the best of the founding fathers (nor my personal favorite, but you cannot pick your ancestors) however, without him America would be a much different place today. Why pick on him as the one to dump for some woman who did not 1/10th as much to make our country what it is? Why not get rid of that drunken damn-Yankee U.S. Grant? His administration was known for corruption and a five year depression as well as being responsible for the Great Sioux War of 1976 (in which his fellow Yankee Gen. Custer got killed for being an idiot). Dump his ass and leave Hamilton alone.
warhawke223 at June 19, 2015 9:18 AM
"Where exactly did you imply that anyone besides YOU hadn't heard of Grace Hopper? "
You and I are among the exceptions. Most of the younger people in the field that I've talked to, men and women, have never heard of Grace Hopper. (They've never heard of John von Neumann either. And they only know of Alan Turing that he was gay, not any of the things he did.) Not to mention people outside the computer field. That was my point -- lots of people can tell you who, say, Andrea Dworkin is. Grace Hopper did way more to improve the human condition than Andrew Dworkin ever thought of, but look at who is better known.
Nicely done on Presper Eckert, by the way. I give you big props for that. Many moons ago, I wrote assembly code on a UNIVAC 1108, so Eckert and Mauchly have always been of particular interest to me.
Cousin Dave at June 19, 2015 10:49 AM
I think you mean 1876
lujlp at June 19, 2015 11:34 AM
'get somebody with a vagina"
How about just a nice portrait of a vulva? A tribute to all "under-represented" ladies, right?
Really, how come I'm the only one coming up with simple solutions?
Jay R at June 19, 2015 1:33 PM
Lenona,
It was fairly clear from what Cousin Dave wrote that he knew who Grace Hopper was and was lamenting that not enough people did. If he didn't know who she was how would he have known enough to bring up her name. He is one who originally mentioned her.
Ben at June 19, 2015 4:37 PM
If he didn't know who she was how would he have known enough to bring up her name.
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As I already said, I assumed he'd heard about the people who had PREVIOUSLY suggested her for the bill and was reacting to them. I.e., I knew he was not the one who "originally" mentioned her - outside of this blog, that is. A bit careless of me, maybe, but given some of the other comments in this thread, it was easy to get the idea that "no woman is really deserving enough to replace Hamilton."
From what I understand, BTW, feminists are already aware of both Ada and Grace. Whether it's their fault or not that Ada was probably better known to the masses for ages (for example, there was the 1997 Tilda Swinton movie "Conceiving Ada," but the documentary on Grace won't be until next year) probably can't be determined. (I already gave some neutral reasons as to why Ada might be better known.)
lenona at June 20, 2015 8:12 AM
Ada Lovelace is pretty well known in Great Britain because of her connections to Lord Byron and Charles Babbage, both of whom are pretty legendary figures there. I'm pretty sure she has appeared on British currency. Great Britain issues lots of editions of currency, with portraits of different notable British people. Somewhere I've got stashed away a ten-pound note with Charles Darwin's portrait on it.
Cousin Dave at June 21, 2015 5:39 PM
How about Ayn Rand? Arguably the most well-known American woman of the twentieth century, even if she was born in Russia.
Craig at June 22, 2015 4:26 PM
I vote for Harriet Tubman - with her revolver.
markm at June 23, 2015 8:37 PM
I vote for Harriet Tubman - with her revolver.
markm at June 23, 2015 8:37 PM
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