Saturday, January 21, 2017

On Women's March: What Do You Want?

I was listening again to the news. Today we were seeing the flip side of what a Trump supporter might be thinking when women around the world took to the streets to simply have their say. Today the Catholic Church here in Tucson are marching in a protest against abortion. I suppose there are other groups marching in protest to those protests. Interesting isn't it?
Then I saw a post on Twitter by Michael Flynn, son of a hopeful cabinet member. I'm not sure what victory Flynn is talking about in his tweet however the statement that women already have equal rights seems a reality to him. That was interesting to me because I know that rights don't come with laws. Rights come with a change in attitudes by humans. The election of our 45th president does not make me feel that we are there yet.

But what struck me as most interesting was that by saying "What more do you want?" he implied that equality was his to give. The final slashing came with the implication that women as so shallow that they would be satisfied if he just gave us more money to get ourselves beautiful with a mani-pedi.

Now, I do know that I am reading things into his words. That is really not fair to him. I am sure that he intended no slight...well not that sure but he does have the right to speak his mind.

However, in a world where women are manipulated (no that is not just in the power of a women) and denigrated for simply being women to the point that they actually will march, there is something very wrong. It is all about perception and perception does count. A lot more goes into a conversation that words...body language, tone of voice for example.

What do we want? We want absolutely no talk that will make us feel less than worthy. The fact that it is rude is not the worst thing. It is just plain mean. The fact that it makes the man look bad might come into consideration but that is up to them to realize. If they are so small that making us look bad makes them feel good, they have a problem.

I might add here that women should not do any of those things either. Wrong is wrong!

We want there to be no prejudice against any race or religion.

We want our insurance companies and health insurance everywhere to pay for birth control so there is no need for abortions. (I do hate abortion a lot.)

We want to be listened to. We think we have some very good ideas. Young women across this world are living in a place of inferiority. (see yesterday's post).

We want the elderly and less fortunate to be viewed as real people and for their benefits to be viewed as deserved and not an entitlement. 

We women want to be valued for being the other half of our population!

As for equal rights and that wonderful glass ceiling and the equal pay that Flynn talked about...that is something for another time. Trust me women across this country are still not seeing equal pay and promotions but the practice is not as visible as it once was.

Just a thought.

b+

Note: I do not know this man. Is he a misogynist? Maybe but I did not say he was. You find out and let me know. :)

14 comments:

  1. Great post Barb. Keep up the good fight, we will have to do it often in the coming years just to keep from falling back too far...

    1459 days till January 20, 2021...

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    1. I am counting down with you. Hopeful, I will live to vote again. It is a goal worth aiming for.

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  2. I remember when Donald Trump made that now-memorable appearance on The View and received a bit of a (deserved) tongue lashing from Rosie O'Donnell. His over-the-top response to her in the days and weeks afterwards (pre-Twitter) astounded me. I couldn't believe how he was doubling and tripling down with his insults. At the time, I only saw him as this P.T. Barnum-type caricature of Manhattan, but I was still amazed at both his thin skin and insidious attitude in calling her such awful names (and this was during a period when I wasn't much of a fan of her myself). His behavior just seemed so excessive to me. Little did I (or any of us) realize at the time how much more he would soon be on our radar.

    But where I was astonished and revolted by his outburst, others apparently were (and are) emboldened by it. With Trump's elevation to legitimacy, this kind of behavior is sadly accepted in so many quarters. Michael Flynn and his macho tweet is now becoming the norm. There is a backlash within the alt-right universe at not just what is ostensibly seen as politically correct behavior, but a determined desire to malign intellectual thought and decency. -

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    1. I learned night before last in a discussion with a "friend" that the values I held as dear were not worthy of her interest. I wish you could have heard how the tone of voice changed when she talked about Trump. I had not heard that change since I was in China and our tour guide was talking about Mao. Wow!

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  3. I attended the women's rally in Edmonton, AB. It was attended by females & males, young & old. Some of the signage I saw - I can't believe we're still talking about this; men of quality aren't threatened by equality; we matter. I remember being asked for my husband to co-sign a bank loan; I've been asked at the door to speak to the "man of the house"; I've been asked who the "head of the house" is when what was really wanted was who was responsible for payment (it was me!); when building a house, I was told by one contractor that he didn't talk to me, he talked with the building contractor - I had to remind him that I was signing the checks; I've participated in union talks for better wages when all-male board members were adamant that we nurses (female) only needed "pin" money and would be cared for by our husbands. YES, we're still talking about this; we're still fighting for equality; we do matter.

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    1. Mona, we need to remember that the battle will go on for a period of time. It will not be until the time that the view of us as women is changed that anything will be different. No law can take care of the problem

      But we will keep going one small step at a time.

      The thing that bothered me the most about Flynn's comment was that he felt so threatened. What is that about do you suppose?

      Unfortunately, in the evolution of man it takes time and women are wondering if they are running out of that precious commodity.

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  4. I marched in Bellingham and was truly uplifted by the sheer number of people and the enthusiasm for meaningful change. Your post strikes me as just right. Thank you! :-)

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    1. I was listening to NPR yesterday when a commentator was talking about what the women in California were concerned with. It was not gay rights or even Planned Parenthood. They were concerned about science and global warming and so much more. Isn't that wonderful?

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  5. Were that everyone was as sensible, reasonable and committed as you are!

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    1. Thank you for your support Tom. We do want to be sensible, reasonable and committed. Brash will never do. Only when we speak in a quiet voice that calms the heart will we be heard.

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  6. Barbara, you are on fire! You are hitting the blog ball out of the park post after post. I bow to the master.

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    1. I am not comfortable in this place because I can not find a group of people that will listen and I am NOT singing to the choir. Do you suppose that anyone is willing to listen to reason? Or am I being unreasonable?

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    2. I think you have hit on the issue. You want "them" to listen to reason. They think the same thing. So maybe that's something to look at. If we pause in trying to help others what do we see in ourselves? I just wrote about this myself, so you and I are thinking along the same lines.

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    3. I am still working it out. Thank you for giving me your thoughts.

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Leave your thoughts...I am interested.

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