I do have a problem with men who feel an irresistible urge to draft laws and regulations controlling and restricting what we women do with our own bodies.
Maybe it's because religion has infected their brains in a bad way. Maybe they're suffering from ovary envy. Maybe they're still secretly pissed that slavery is no longer legal, and they gotta have somebody to dominate and control - and who better than women, their traditional underlings?
Whatever the reason, men need to resist those urges.
And women need to speak out, loudly and clearly. We need to tell them to sit down and STFU.
That why I joined the UniteWomen March on Saturday 28, in downtown LA.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. And there were wonderful speakers and a great percussion band to keep things moving.
Still, for all the hard work by the organizers, for all the amazing signs by the other attendees, for all the terrific support by male allies who support women's rights, I was disappointed there weren't a LOT more women there. Maybe they decided to go to the beach. Or they were working, or exhausted after a long week of working (I know I was). Maybe they thought, because things are (relatively) civilized in California, as far as women's rights go, it isn't so urgent for us. (Yet.)
First they came for the communists,Right now, "they" are only coming for women who want abortions in states like Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arizona (and dozens more). "They" are only seeking to let employers refuse to provide insurance inclusive of birth control coverage, and/or monitor the birth control use of their employees if the employer has a "moral objection" to it. "They" are only saying in Georgia that after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a woman should be forced to carry a fetus until it naturally delivers, just like cows and pigs do. (Note: HB 954 was amended just prior to passage to allow exemptions for "medically futile" pregnancies or those in which a woman's life or health - not including mental health - is threatened.)
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
"They" are only seeking to stigmatize single parents and eliminate divorce in places like Wisconsin, because we all know that even in cases of domestic abuse, all the wife needs to do is "remember why she got married in the first place," and try a little harder. (And in places like Topeka Kansas, they've only decriminalized domestic violence - so the cases are dumped on the county prosecutor, who has less staff and resources.)
"They" don't see any need for women to have the right to the same pay as men, even when women have the exact same qualifications, job skills and experience, and work the same hours as men. After all, money isn't as important to women.
If you are a woman, "they" are already here for us. Speak out, SCREAM out, and don't let your husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, and sons be ignorant of how you feel.
If you are not already registered, please register, educate yourself, and VOTE.
(And a footnote to that? If you are one of the 90% of American women who has changed her name upon marriage or divorce, make sure you have a current photo ID that matches your name, or your vote may not be counted in seven states.)
Get outraged. And remember in November.
