MARCH ON
I got in a debate the
other day (Of late there has been a lot of debating) about the Million Women’s March. The most surprising and sobering
part of it was that the disdain was coming from another woman. She, like many
critics of the march, said it was simply women complaining, “whining” as she
called it about the fact that they didn’t like the result of the presidential
election.
I have to admit, I was
taken aback. I know there are critics out there, and I know the president elect received a
large majority of his votes from white women, but it’s hard to stare at another
woman in the face and have her fail to see the greater significance of such an
event.
I suppose my question
for those dissenting voices is, if the march didn’t resonate with you, as a
woman (and I’m not sure how it doesn’t), doesn’t it make you question who did
it speak to? What human being that shares your gender felt it necessary to take
to the streets to be heard? Do you know any? And were you really listening to
what they were saying?
For those of you that
didn’t march, and dare label us with such derogatory language as "moaners,
whiners, victims, and sore losers." My response to you is this… we are not
victims. That march was not about victimhood.... That march was about power.. those
daring to speak up and challenge and not accept what is going on in today’s
world, in our country, in the election; it was a reaction to the grave affront on our civil
liberties (if you think you are immune to this, wake up, because attack on our
rights affects us all) and the glaring religious persecution that is happening
before our very eyes (again, it might not be you this time, but who will speak
up for you when it does). The march was the beginning of a movement, an awakening,
a reminder of our first amendment rights to speak, be heard, and not lie
down anymore. (
And on that day, we were the voice for the voiceless.
As I see it, isn’t that
the one bridge that links us (those that voted against the President elect)
with those that voted for the him – That fact that we demand to be heard, we
won’t be silent, we want change. Moreover, if Trump ran a platform on the
forgotten, the apparent voiceless, then aren’t those 3 million women marching
part of that group? Or because we didn’t vote for the President elect, does our
voice somehow not matter anymore?
If the march showed
those in power anything it was the fact that we can galvanize quickly and we
are not going away quietly. We will stand up for our environment, for our
education, for our children; we will stand up for our rights to be paid
equally, treated equally and to say loud and clear, language of assault,
objectification and oppression is NOT okay. You may not agree with it, but it
is our first amendment right to protest peacefully, so deal with it. Moreover,
the world is rife with women, perhaps not yourselves, who are paid less, objectified, assaulted and have lived lives of hardship
because of their gender. So if you don’t know any, open your eyes
and understand that you do not live on an island.
Most importantly, any
woman out there that condemns peaceful protest is forgetting a very essential thing: you obtained your very rights through protest. You
can vote because women marched. You can drive…marry (anyone of any ethnicity or gender)
because people marched. You can hold political office because people marched. There
is advancement in the workplace because people marched. It didn’t come for
free. People put their lives on the line so you are now able to sit in your
comfortable home and enjoy those hard fought for rights.
So, instead of mocking
your fellow woman, THANK HER.
And if it doesn’t
resonate with you and you still don’t understand it, ask the woman next to you
at work, or in line at the coffee place, the quiet one that may have a different skin color than you, or come
from a different financial background, or different religion, ask her if that
march represented her voice.
You may be enlightened
that not everyone sits in the same position that you do.