Today's Reason To March - Because WE ARE WOMAN

By: Katherine Manaan
Middle Aged Woman Talking

Friday, August 10, 2012
7 days till the MARCH  8-18-12

I read something today on Huffington Post that momentarily stymied me. It was a remark about the We  Are Woman March coming up 8-18-12. Though the writer applauds the work that so many have done to pull this march off she then goes on to say she doesn't like the name, "We Are Woman," that it sounds "gender exclusive." Last I checked the War Against Women was in fact gender exclusive, that's why it's called a War Against Women, that's why we're having a march.

When I think of the Civil Rights Movement I think about equal rights for African Americans. When I think about LGBT rights I think about equal rights for same sex relationships. I am a straight white woman and have marched for civil rights and gay rights. The point is I don't have to be black or gay to support the Civil Rights and Gay Rights movements; I am not excluded because of my color or my sexuality anymore than anyone by virtue of their sex, color, or sexuality is excluded from the We Are Woman March.

We Are Woman is a great name, powerful, unashamedly female. We're marching for reproductive freedom, we're marching for equal pay for equal work, we're marching for equal rights, we're marching to say we have a voice. Women's Rights, Civil Rights, Gay Rights are human rights; we bring our power to each others causes; we have so much in common, we have that which makes us unique. Humanity is composed of many tribes, long live the diversity.

Live loud, love fierce, and suffer no fools, Katherine Manaan