Feminist

07 Mar 2017 Leave a comment

by Laura in Politics, American Style, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This article from the New York Times is thought-provoking, indeed. I agree that powerful women pose a threat to certain people and I’m sure they always will. (During her campaign for President, it was revealed that Hillary Clinton’s approval numbers were high, except when she was running for office.) I’m also aware that American women make 80 cents for each dollar an American man is paid. And despite initiatives and organizations that are educating Americans about rape culture, the statistics associated with assaults on women are still staggering. However, I don’t view the criticism aimed at Kellyanne Conway as strictly sexist or mysoginistic. She’s a public figure who inspires the same type of satire her male counterparts do. What I do find troubling is her comment:

“In a recent interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Ms. Conway said she supported many feminist principles but said she would not call herself one because feminism is anti-male, pro-abortion and identified with the left.”

Conway is ill-informed in regard to what the term “feminist” means. She’s not the only one; I’ve been aware of this definition for years. It’s been expressed in the conservative media and is supported by a relative of mine, who once took me to task on Facebook and suggested I channel my “feminist anger” into a more important cause.* Two years ago, The New Yorker magazine published its annual list of words that should be eliminated from the English language and “feminist” was included. (Days later, the editor removed the word from the list and printed an apology.) Apparently, disdain for the term is far-reaching.

I sincerely wish the word “feminist” was no longer relevant. It would be a wonderful world, indeed, if all women felt safe, respected, fairly-compensated for their work, were given the right to control their own bodies and had access to affordable healthcare. Unfortunately, here in America state legislatures and the Trump administration are working hard to curtail women’s rights and to take us back several decades, to a time before American women claimed their power and the right to choose  their own destinies. Until that day comes, feminists like me will speak up, loud and proud!

*My relative was reacting to an article I’d posted on Facebook about funding for Planned Parenthood. This subject is in the news again today; it’s part of the Trump administration’s newly-minted Affordable Care Act replacement. The President tried to make a deal with the healthcare provider; if they would agree to stop providing abortions, he would continue their funding. Planned Parenthood said “No” and The Donald pulled the plug on all funding. (This is Day One for the new healthcare bill. To no one’s surprise, it favors the young, the wealthy and the insurance companies. Let the games begin…)

The State of Our Union

27 May 2014 2 Comments

by Laura in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As a citizen of  the United States, I’m surrounded by so much ideological bullying that I no longer watch the news, nor tune into cable stations that focus on modern politics or the state of our union. I carefully source my news from the internet and my local newspapers. I’ve chosen to do so in order to be informed of the events and issues that concern and affect me, while avoiding the rants and ravings of the tea party conservatives and members of the religious right whose rhetoric makes my blood boil and my feminist heart break.

Hope for a positive change in our national consciousness accompanied the inauguration of President Obama. This optimistic expectation has evaporated into thin air. Tragically, Obama’s election has brought every bigot, racist and narrow-minded man and women out into the open, be it through social media, reality TV or local “man-on-the-street” interviews, where they proudly proclaim the truth, as they see it. I’m especially infuriated by those who latch on to a catchy, politically charged phrase they’ve heard and gleefully repeat it ad nauseam, without a moment’s worth of fact-checking.

Besides our president, women are fair game.  When I say they’ re repeatedly hit below the belt, it’s not only a figure of speech, it’s where women are targeted most frequently. The words hateful men spit in our direction are obscene. The rules self-righteous religious leaders concoct are demeaning. The women who stand by these men, who are their husbands, in some cases, cause me particular distress. Do they worship a god who would debase them? Is self-loathing their excuse? And, while we’re on the subject, do they refrain from using contraceptives?

The call to arms is at fever’s pitch, now. Ban our abortions, murder our doctors, insist on ultrasounds, take away our contraceptives, limit our healthcare, all in the name of God. Strip us of our dignity and our rights, rights won with the real blood, sweat and tears of those who fought for what should have been ours, from the day the first male child emerged from his mother’s womb.

It’s a tragic era in America’s history, to be sure. And what makes it worse is that so many people don’t even know what’s happening, nor do they seem to care.

Connected

15 May 2014 Leave a comment

by Laura in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“People have had enough, both socially and politically. This is becoming ever clearer. The anger, the sense of mass injustice, is rising. But, for the first time on our history, ordinary people are taking matters into their own hands, in a constructive, rather than destructive, way… Allow people to feel that they have a voice, and rights, and, come the Revolution, the lampposts will be empty!”

I hope you enjoy this inspiring post, which was a balm for my optimistic, yet somewhat down-trodden, soul. I, too, feel the stirrings of the disenchanted and know we each have more power than we dare to believe. And I, too, am hoping for a revolution!

As a US citizen, I breathe in the pervasive air of injustice, anger and apathy every day. My jaw drops when I watch the national news and hear people with power spew testaments to their profound detachment from us “regular folk” and from those who live in poverty. (Yes, there are starving children, right here in America!) And then there are the verbal assaults on women and the regular reminders of the physical abuse they endure every day, in places near and far.

One world, one people, one voice… Alien Aura’s “Connected” is an eloquent reminder to speak up!