Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

Hope for Women

I am a woman.

XX defines my chromosomal makeup. I was born female, and I identify female.  I like girl clothes and girl things. I am a white heterosexual woman, which means I have white heterosexual privilege. But at the end of the day, I am a woman, and in the year 2012, what defines me is what lies between the area from the top of my thighs to just under my shoulders.  There is no privilege there. Politically and socially, I am the sum of my parts.

Every day – every single day – I see reminders of this played out on the public and political stage.

I see politicians and public mouthpieces disseminating information that demeans me because

I am a woman.

I see politicians passing laws that govern me, for no reason other than the fact that  

I am a woman.

I know that no matter how old I get, the truth is that I am not safe from sexual assault. I have been lucky in my life not to have been raped, but just because it hasn’t happened does not mean it won’t. I will not be released from the possibility until I am dead, simply because

I am a woman.

I see and hear men and boys and groups of men and boys talking casually about rape and prostitution and pornography and how we want it and choose it, and when they do I am reminded that in their eyes and the eyes of this fucked up world

I

am

just

a

woman.

The message on the public stage has become one that constantly says my value lies in the hole they get to plunge into, apparently at their whim. Every day, multiple times a day, a politician or media personality or a preacher or someone somewhere makes a statement that supports hate of and disrespect for women. It has become this country’s national pastime.  We are inundated with outright misogyny, and it has become okay.

This all came to a head yesterday when I saw a story about the flyer distributed at  Miami University describing for college boys the “Ten Ways to Get Away With Rape.”   Apparently that’s the new college course, and people are playing it off as a joke played by college boys.

Don’t think it is just men. I had not yet recovered my mind or emotions when this gem  popped up: “Our country might have been better off if it was still just men voting. There is nothing worse than a bunch of mean, hateful women. They are diabolical in how than can skewer a person.” Spoken by Janis Lane of the Central Mississippi Tea Party.

There's this one: Court Requires Disabled Rape Victim to Prove She Resisted.
And this one:  Wife of Jason Biggs Jokes about Child Rape
And this one: O'Reilly: Rape, murder victims was "wearing a mini skirt and halter top...Every predator in the world is going to pick up on that at 2 in the morning."
And on and on and on.

To all of the above: Fuck you you moronic piece of shit. Fuck you. Fuck your friends. Fuck everyone who likes you.

As I write this I’m still sick and angry and sad. Yesterday was, for me, a big shining billboard reminding me of the War on Women and where we as a nation have come (or rather, how far we've regressed). I’m not a damn fool. I know sexism has been alive and well for centuries, but this country has taken a dangerous and frightening turn for the worse. Open, Blatant, Unabashed sexism is okay. Misogyny at the all levels has come to be accepted. Hell, it’s all more than okay and accepted: there seems to be a contest for who can say and do the worst things relating to women. Yet so few seem to be willing to even notice or want to do anything about it.

There are a few people out there who say it Out Loud. We are pointing to it and addressing it and trying very very hard to stand up to it, but what we are doing is not enough because too many of you don’t address it. You continue to support the people who say and do these horrible things. You make excuses for them, and you blame the women. You roll your eyes at me and other women who stand up and call this what it is. You vote for the very people who engage in this disgusting national pastime. You go to their churches and listen to their radio shows and read their writings. Your apathy helps them remind me that

I am just a woman.

And I have no power, and no voice, and no acknowledgement as equal.

Yesterday I was angry, but worse than that today I awoke with a feeling of despair that has settled inside of me. It is a feeling that this unchecked assault on women is taking us to a dark place from which we will have trouble escaping. I am faced with the feeling that what I do is not enough and that what I do does not matter. And I am having trouble raging against the dying of the light that has burned within me for most of my life.

I have a necklace that has the word “Hope” written on it in Japanese. This morning I put that necklace on, and then I realized that today, on this day, my hope is at such a low level that I could not wear that necklace.  Today when I woke up I thought it unlikely that anything would happen that would help my hope return, but then I met a woman who did. Ironically, her name is Amal, which means "Hope."

Today, just like all the other days, I am a woman, and in some way someone will remind me that I do not matter.Today my hope is that you will care enough to pay attention, and to act. Regardless, I will carry on, just like I always have BECAUSE I am a woman and because one day my granddaughter will be a woman. I want her to matter.