Be Visible and Loud
The We Are Women March on Washington is being organized to take place on April 28th in all state capitals and the District of Columbia. To be clear: this is not a march against men -- this is a march against systematized sexism. It is a march for equal, human, civil rights for women. Men and women who believe in these rights are good for everyone are marching. Erin Nanasi, a writer, launched the March with her video expressing outrage at the marginalization of women and their interests by conservative politicians and legislators.
If you watched the video please note, despite the fact that this woman is sitting in a kitchen, she is in possession of a brain, has a sense of her own agency and believes she has fundamental rights. Although still nascent, the movements' Facebook page (there are a couple being consolidated), is adding thousands of people daily and has already signed up organizers in almost every state capital.
But it takes more than a march. It takes, as I heard journalist Ann Gerhart recently say, NOT thinking pushing a "Like" button is enough. It takes voting to support the work of organizations like HERvotes. It takes realizing that women shouldn't settle for feeling like they have "enough" equality because they are comparatively less subject to violence, brutality and marginalization as was again recently suggested to me. It requires openly Naming It and Changing It: and not accepting misogyny in Congress and state legislatures masquerading as well-meaning paternalism or "religious freedom." You either have to be ignorant regarding history or a self-aware liar to say "birth control is not about women's rights. It's about religious freedom." And, what it reallymeans is women stepping up, running for office and winning.
We Are Warriors and the Birth of a Movement
Soraya Chemaly just published a great piece on the Huffington Post website called, "Women in Politics: Why We Need More Women in Office". The article includes Erin Nanasi's video which 'birthed a movement' of women warriors in the 21st century. Here is a brief excerpt along with the video.
