Phyllis Beveridge Nissila
I posted this last year on the first occasion of the “Women’s March,” and it bears repeating because I still cannot think of a better way to put it.
Although I am glad to see that greater emphasis was added this year to the get-out-the-(women’s) vote effort, two dominant motifs from last year–va-jay-jay hats and vitriol–seemed to prevail.
But the reality is: women do not all think in lock-step.
I wonder if, for example, as a non-religious Christian, a (Classic*) liberal, and a pro-life advocate, I would have been invited to participate, let alone speak, at the event?
By: Vanny Byington
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 (sic) 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.
~~~~~
*In the sense of the primacy of individual freedom and minimal government.
pnissila 
Cathy, many feel the same way.
However, while such protest is still allowed and protected by our First Amendment rights, here, it does give one pause to consider the ramifications (particularly the unexpected consequences) of a movement/protest/rally dominated by so-called “pussy hats” and rage. Sometimes “shock and awe” as an attention-getting mechanism becomes just “shock and raw,” and repels more than invites those who might otherwise seriously investigate the cause..
Whereas it may alleviate some of the pain and frustration of attendees who wanted another candidate in the White House and who seem to truly hate President Trump, period, it alienates others who a) don’t subscribe to this particular hive mind or brand of activism,though they themselves may not be 100% behind every single thing Trump says or does, i.e., those who don’t think just black or white on this matter, and b) those who might be persuaded more one way or the other but because…rage and raw…will stay home.
That’s a lot of people–women and men.
Surely we can rise above pink va-jay-jay hats and vitriol to not only gather more to the cause(s) but to also resist fueling the rage which tends to stop critical thinking and perpetuate the polarization of the populace on matters that deserve our best–and most thoughtful–attention.
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My feelings about the Woman’s March is Two Prong:
1, Protest Trump
2. Abortion Rights
Both are Inappropriate!
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