Listening to appropriately enough, She Talks Crazy Talk by the Chilliwacks.
Ever since I was a teenager in the 70s I have heard the refrain from women that we are not equal to men, that we are, in fact, second class citizens. And because of this, we must soldier on and fight to get the male rulers to recognize that their patriarchal society is holding us down and for them to fix the problem.
I'm here to tell you it's all bullshit. I am sick to death of the constant hand-wringing and whining about equality and our lack of it. Well, stop it. Stop acting like we're a downtrodden minority under the thumbs (or other parts of the anatomy) of our male oppressors.
Guess what, ladies? If we're second class citizens in a male dominated world it's because we want it that way. Does that statement shock you? You are denying, vehemently, and saying it just ain't so.
Well, yes, it is.
Most people know insurance actuarial statistics tell us that women outlive men. It's common knowledge and we all accept it. What does it really mean, though?
It means that rather than being a minority, women are the majority, surpassing men in the voting age range at roughly 51% women to 49% men. That means, in the simplest terms that if every woman of voting age went to the polls anywhere in North America, they would dominate those polls and control the candidates that get into power. So in reality what happens? It means we're letting men take control out of our hands without a fight.
Lately I've been hearing claims that since the Republicans got back control of the House they have been attacking women from all fronts. Fighting to eliminate or defund abortion, medical care, and social programs aimed at women and children. (I won't get into how ridiculous and revealing is the fact that the very party that wants to make abortion illegal also are the ones who want to gut funding to programs that would help those women forced to have their babies. Logic never was one of their strong suits)
Don't like it? You support a woman's basic right to have ownership of her own body? Then where were you on November 2, 2010? Too busy to go to the polls? Too indifferent, thinking 'oh, my vote won't make any difference so why bother?'
In 2008 the highest voter turnout in decades put Obama in office and gave the Democrats unprecedented power. By not voting in 2010 you took that away and handed it back to the very people who had 8 years to put America on the edge of bankruptcy, both moral and financial. At this point, since the houses are now split to one controlled by the GOP and the other by Dems nothing will get accomplished in government and nothing will be fixed since the two sides are at each other's throats trying to score points, not correct problems.
Is that what the women in this country wanted? No?
Again, where were you on November 2, 2010? Any answer less than 'I was in the hospital or my mother died' means you abdicated your chance to have a say in the government of your country. And clearly, a lot of women who voted Obama in, stayed home this time. Why? Didn't think the Dems did enough? So you what? Give the control back to the party that almost destroyed the American middle class in favor of serving their wealthy patrons?
Before you bitch and moan about the mess the government is in, remember this: you have, and always have had, the numbers to control your fate and the fate of all the other women and children in the country, and possibly affect women in countries where they are truly second class citizens. And all you have to do is get off your indifferent ass and go to the polls at the next election.
Does this post piss you off? Good. Maybe it will drive you to prove I'm wrong at the next election.
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