Feminist Friday: The War on Women

I adore alliteration. I’m also a big fan of gender equality and human rights. Therefore, now we have Feminist Fridays.

I’d throw some confetti and yell, “Wahoo, Feminist Fridays!!”  but I’m too annoyed to make it a celebratory thing.

My relationship with feminism is a complicated one.Perhaps not feminism itself but the language that surrounds the movement.   I struggle with the label. I’m resistant to wrap myself up in the wording. There are too many variant ideologies in the subculture to let the word “Feminist” stand on it’s own to represent me . It was fairly recent that I decided to say , “Ah, fuck it ” to the terminology and go ahead and say , “Fuck yeah, I’m a feminist.” , negative stereotypes and false perceptions be damned. I don’t care what the movement behind gender equality is called or even if it’s called anything, but we still need feminism.

Another term I use with great reluctance is ‘The War Against or On Something That Is Not A Country. The war on drugs. The war on terror. The war on guns. Usually, these wars are more fear based campaign to get people behind an imaginary or exaggerated threat.

The War on Women,though? That’s some real shit.  There are those skeptics who deny that it’s happening. I think those people have their head in the sand or just don’t give a shit about women. Brainwashed by patriarchal influences is another possibility.

Take this comment left on my Facebook page  recently, as an example:

“Omfg if I here any more feminist bs my might just blow a gasket…. limitations on birth control and abortions is not going to happen period no matter who is voted in. Things like this need to pass through the house of reps first.
Stop thinking with you fucking vagina and grow some brains. Vote for who’s going to do right by your family. For god sake” -Ashley

Another recent comment from a Grandmotherly- looking ,older woman  told me  …

“You sick people are what’s wrong with the country today! No God,no morality. YOU are the war on women! Take care of youre babies and youre man and act like a woman should!” -Patricia

It always shocks me when the denial is from another woman.

But who can deny this?

These anti-choice measures do not only refer to abortion legislation. Access to contraception is also being limited or attempted to be removed. Margaret Sanger is rolling over in her grave.

This is about more than legislation against choice, though.  Women are more likely to be oppressed, impoverished,enslaved and have acts of violence committed against them . The attitudes regarding violence against women is disturbingly accepting . People turn their heads and shrug a lot when talking about such things.

Women in the US still earn less than men, quite often for the same exact job as a man. If you work for Governor John Kasich and are a woman, you make 56% less than the men who work for him.  It astounds me that women vote for these people and put them in office. The term Republican Woman has to be the biggest oxymoron ever.

What credible reason could one possibly have for voting against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act? It speaks volumes about their position on where women belong : at the bottom, repressed and struggling. If that isn’t an act of war, I don’t know what it is.

The attacks on the entire  female gender isn’t related to politics ,of course.  The media manipulation of females starting at a very young age plays a huge role in how both boys & girls perceive women as a whole. Unless challenged and shattered with even tempered guidance, the cultural depression that holds women in it’s grasp will only worsen. Society really needs feminism now. Historically, one trait that has existed in civilizations in their decline was gender based inequality.

So,yeah… Feminists Fridays. There’s things we need to talk about.Talking is the first step in building a strategy.  The war on women is a little too one-sided for me.