Women Are Not Equal

[xoxoxoBruce]

A post is making rounds on social media, in response to the Women's March on Saturday, January 21, 2017. It starts with "I am not a disgrace to women because I don't support the women's march. I do not feel I am a second class citizen because I am a woman."

This is Dina Leygerman responding here.

Say thank you. Say thank you to the women who gave you a voice. Say thank you
to the women who were arrested and imprisoned and beaten and gassed for you to have a voice. Say thank you to the women who refused to back down, to the women who fought tirelessly to give you a voice. Say thank you to the women who put their lives on hold, who lucky for you, did not have better things to do than to march and protest and rally for your voice. So you don't feel like a second class citizen. So you get to feel equal.

She describes the many ways women are second class citizens then lists some women to thank.

Thank Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul for your right to vote.

Thank Elizabeth Stanton for your right to work.

Thank Maud Wood Park for your prenatal care and your identity outside of your husband.

Thank Rose Schneiderman for your humane working conditions.

Thank Eleanor Roosevelt and Molly Dewson for your ability to work in politics and affect policy.

Thank Margaret Sanger for your legal birth control.

Thank Carol Downer for your reproductive healthcare rights.

Thank Margaret Fuller for your equal education.

Thank Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shannon Turner, Gloria Steinem, Zelda Kingoff Nordlinger, Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Malika Saada Saar, Wagatwe Wanjuki, Ida B. Wells, Malala Yousafzai. Thank your mother, your grandmother, your great-grandmother who did not have half of the rights you have now.

I think you ladies should read the whole article.
You men who are just brushing this off, reading the article will make you feel superior, more macho and less pussy whipped.

[classicman]

I am not a "disgrace to women" because I don't support the women's march. I do not feel I am a "second class citizen" because I am a woman. I do not feel my voice is "not heard" because I am a woman. I do not feel I am not provided opportunities in this life or in America because I am a woman. I do not feel that I "don't have control of my body or choices" because I am a woman. I do not feel like I am " not respected or undermined" because I am a woman.
I AM a woman.
I can make my own choices.
I can speak and be heard.
I can VOTE.
I can work if I want.
I control my body.
I can defend myself.
I can defend my family.
There is nothing stopping me to do anything in this world but MYSELF.
I do not blame my circumstances or problems on anything other than my own choices or even that sometimes in life, we don't always get what we want. I take responsibility for myself.
I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend. I am not held back in life but only by the walls I choose to not go over which is a personal choice.
Quit blaming.
Take responsibility.
If you want to speak, do so. But do not expect for me, a woman, to take you seriously wearing a pink va-jay-jay hat on your head and screaming profanities and bashing men.
If you have beliefs, and speak to me in a kind matter, I will listen. But do not expect for me to change my beliefs to suit yours. Respect goes both ways.
If you want to impress me, especially in regards to women, then speak on the real injustices and tragedies that affect women in foreign countries that do not that the opportunity or means to have their voices heard.
Saudi Arabia, women can't drive, no rights and must always be covered.
China and India, infantcide of baby girls.
Afghanistan, unequal education rights.
Democratic Republic of Congo, where rapes are brutal and women are left to die, or HIV infected and left to care for children alone.
Mali, where women can not escape the torture of genital mutilation.
Pakistan, in tribal areas where women are gang raped to pay for men's crime.
Guatemala, the impoverished female underclass of Guatemala faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages.
And that's just a few examples.
So when women get together in AMERICA and whine they don't have equal rights and march in their clean clothes, after eating a hearty breakfast, and it's like a vacation away that they have paid for to get there...
This WOMAN does not support it. ~ Brandi Atkinson

[xoxoxoBruce]

As with any serious protest, in this case the women's march, there will be the very small minority with "pink va-jay-jay hat on your head and screaming profanities and bashing men." I'd guess less than 5% out of multi-millions, but they will get the attention of the media. That doesn't make the cause any less just.

The same with any protest marches, there will always be a tiny minority damaging property and getting all the attention.

So she doesn't think American women should progress until the rest of the word catches up? American women shouldn't lead by example?

[Mountain Mule]

Newbie here, but good grief what a polemic! You guys seem interesting at least. I've been checking out the Image of the Day for a while now and finally decided to officially sign up. Never been much good at lurking anyhow.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Mountain Mule

Newbie here, but good grief what a polemic!

Polemic, a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.
I'm confused by your statement... which ain't hard
Are you referring to one of the quoted articles or one of the posts, all, none of the above?

We're an opinionate bunch, and willing to "share" our opinions. But it's not personal, "attacks" aren't directed at the person (except in a few cases cough tw cough), but to make my point, and shout down the dumb bastard who doesn't agree with me.

Seriously though, stick around and jump it anytime you like, I'm sure you have things to contribute.

[Mountain Mule]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Polemic, a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.
I'm confused by your statement... which ain't hard
Are you referring to one of the quoted articles or one of the posts, all, none of the above?

We're an opinionate bunch, and willing to "share" our opinions. But it's not personal, "attacks" aren't directed at the person (except in a few cases cough tw cough), but to make my point, and shout down the dumb bastard who doesn't agree with me.

Seriously though, stick around and jump it anytime you like, I'm sure you have things to contribute.

Oh my goodness! No, no - my reply was certainly not intended as some sort of personal attack. The word just came to mind when I read Brandi Atkinson's post that Classicman quoted.

I feel that Brandi Atkinson's words were rather over the top, and as a woman, I disagree with a number of the statements she made. I also found it interesting that she would be quoted by a man. I couldn't help but wonder if Classicman was using Atkinson to disagree with your thesis that "Women Are Not Equal."

Women are NOT equal. For example, Atkinson states that she has control over her own body. This may be true for her, but many women all over the world do NOT have control over their own bodies. Certain tribes in Africa still practice female circumcision, a horribly painful and degrading mutilation of a women's body done to young girls who have no say in the matter. Many low income women in a growing number of states in the US are being denied access to Planned Parenthood and other medical facilities where they could obtain information and be provided with appropriate birth control methods. The same is true of access to safe abortions - even early term ones - in the case of unwanted pregnancies. I believe it is the state of Texas that has come up with a rule that fetal matter from miscarriages and abortions should be buried as if they were babies who had died soon after a normal 9 month pregnancy. Good grief! What's next? Will women be required to bury tampons in a series of separate little graves each month? The state of Indiana has also mandated the burial or cremation of embryonic cells from early abortions and miscarriages.

I majored in biology in college and one of my required classes was Embryology. We were all required to chloroform live mice in various stages of pregnancy in a bell jar and make microscopic slides of the fetal matter once we had dissected mama mouse. I saw with my own eyes that a mouse zygote is NOT a complete replica of a cute tiny mouse, but rather an interesting assortment of cells with a shape peculiar to the early stages of embryonic development. A human zygote or embryo at 8 weeks or so is not much different. So, not only do women not have complete control over their own bodies, a woman in Texas or Indiana doesn't even have a say over a few hundred cells her body may happen to produce. Craziness!

Thus, my use of the word "polemic" the definition of which is explained in some detail by Wikipedia:


~snip~ A polemic (/pəˈlɛmɪk/) is contentious rhetoric that is intended to support a specific position. Polemics are mostly seen in arguments about controversial topics. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics.

Polemics often concern issues in religion or politics. A polemic style of writing was common in Ancient Greece, as in the writings of the historian Polybius. Polemic again became common in medieval and early modern times. Since then, famous polemicists have included the satirist Jonathan Swift, the socialist philosopher Karl Marx, the novelist George Orwell and the linguist Noam Chomsky. ~snip~

If I inadvertently attacked Classicman with a Marxist writing style, I most humbly apologize.

Did I pass the quiz?

[xoxoxoBruce]

No no, I didn't think you were attacking anyone, by using polemic I thought you deduced we were attacking each other. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I think the rest of my post is safe.

That wasn't the quiz, as sexobon pointed out in the post before yours.

[Pamela]

Welcome! We are an eclectic bunch and 'interesting' is one of the least of the things we are. We are so much more!

Make yourself comfortable, pull up a chair, Jim used to administer the quiz, but I think that has been waived.

[plthijinx]

Originally Posted by Pamela

**snip** Jim used to administer the quiz, but I think that has been waived.

shit. there's a pop quiz?

the dog ate it!

[Mountain Mule]

Originally Posted by Pamela

Welcome! We are an eclectic bunch and 'interesting' is one of the least of the things we are. We are so much more!

Make yourself comfortable, pull up a chair, Jim used to administer the quiz, but I think that has been waived.

A quiz? Eeek! I'm terrible at quizzes and I suspect you guys could probably provide a very clever one to trip this poor old mule up. Besides, I've already figured out that 4 + 5 = 9 and that the seven letter name for the highest mountain in the world is "Everest" when I registered. Could that count for the quiz?

[xoxoxoBruce]

This is like a montessori school quiz, there are no wrong answers.

[limey]

Classic, of course you are right to quote Brandi's opinion in full. There are, indeed, many countries where women are worse off, far worse off than they are in the States. But not one of those points negates what Dina Leygerman says.

[sexobon]

... But not one of those points negates what Dina Leygerman says.

I'm not buying that negation was the purpose of Brandi Atkinson's post.

It does attenuate the self aggrandizement of women vying for importance by associating themselves with pioneers of equality rather than sedulous hard work. In the quoted response, Dina Leygerman doesn't mention any men to be thankful to. Of course, she's a woman and men aren't the association of opportunity. It's almost as though Brandi Atkinson's post was meant to bring out the superficiality of some in the movement. That can be healthy for any grass roots effort.

[Pico and ME]

There's no reason to trivialize the March or the Movement, which she totally does. The Women's March, which had nearly a whole world's participation, was about much more than just the women who participated. It keeps the discussion going about preserving womens rights as well as all basic human rights The womens March page explains it best.

And it is definitely a protest against Trump.

[sexobon]

Until protests turn into votes, it's marginalized.