Approximately a month ago, a bold thought crossed my mind. I thought, "What if I went to the Women's March this year?" You may ask yourself why this is a bold thought, but when you are raised in a majority conservative-thinking family, you can somewhat understand. You might be curious about my own political opinions, and I can clearly reply that I am a conservative. So I bet your next question is, "Why would you go to the Women's March?" Easy question.
I went to the Women's March for multiple reasons. First, because I completely support the social, political, and economic equality of women all across the world. Before attending the March, I was fully conscious of both the amazing strides women of the United States and the world have made towards progress while equally recognizing the need to speak out for the many injustices against women in other countries. Because a March centered around and by women should stand in solidarity until equality is obtained everywhere. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Second, I attended the Women's March because I love the true feeling of "girl power". While parading the streets of Philadelphia on January 20 this past year, I was present to some incredible women of our society. This includes women with beautiful families, women who were voted into public office, and the dedication of the women who organized this year's march. No one can deny or doubt that their contributions to our society should not be acknowledged or appreciated. Truly, these women represent what feminism truly is: women who have risen, in their fields or whatever passion they possess, to success. That is what it truly means to persist.
Third, the Women's March was an opportunity for me to fully immerse myself in a large crowd that disagreed with nearly every single one of my principles, beliefs, or political ideologies. I knew this before attending the march, during, and afterwards. The beauty of this is the openness to stand alongside people who may disagree with you, yet agree with you on one thing: equality and love. Cognizant of my surroundings, I knew that the Women's March was not a setting for political debate; it was not the time for me to win a political discussion. Rather, this march was my opportunity to sit back and actually listen and experience other people and their different perspectives.
To me, this was the most interesting part since I looked like the majority of people there, all the women, yet my opinions throughout my interior made me look so different. But I did not draw attention to myself; instead, I truly learned what it means to be open-minded.
Regardless of my different beliefs, I was welcomed at the Women's March with nothing but love. Because of this, I respect the efforts of the city of Philadelphia, "The city of brotherly love" or in this case, "The city of sisterly love", and the committee of the Women's March that made the demonstration possible. I was truly glad to be there.
Yet, here are where my friendly criticisms come in. First, I was under the impression that this was a march in solidarity with women, not an anti-Trump rally. While there were multiple signs and posters regarding women's rights and girl power, most signs were derogatory against the President. And while I am no person to even reason with the words, manners, or actions of President Donald Trump, I thought the posters which degraded him misconstrued the main point of the march: for female empowerment.
Second, I was disappointed at the vulgarity of some signs. After seeing little girls parade the streets of Philadelphia with signs such as "Future President" and "Women's Rights are Humans Rights", I smiled at the history I was watching before my very eyes. I was delighted that young girls had the charisma, energy, and leadership possible to feel that sense of empowerment. It brought a sense of happiness to think about the progress women have made in this country over the past century, to truly see how far we have come. So, that was just an overwhelming emotion to witness at that very moment.
However, what ruined my moment of joy was seeing signs with curses, vulgar references to female anatomy, and other profanities. I thought that the vulgarity was not only harmful to the many children I saw at the March but also to the message for female power. Female empowerment is not parading streets screaming curse words at one another, not dressing up as female genitalia, and certainly not making sexually immoral posters right next to children.
I doubt you would want a child who either attended the March or watched the news alongside you to ask, "Mommy/Daddy, what is a p****?" (and trust me, there are worse words, your child could have asked). Do you really want to explain the most vulgar words in our English language to a child? Or do you want to show your daughter, granddaughter, little sister, etc. what it truly means to appreciate the liberties we have in this country? I like the second option.
Third and overall, I was missing the main point of the March. What was this really about? Throughout the demonstration and speeches, I was missing the main point. There was a lack of consistency in what these people were protesting for. Was it for abortion? Was it against sexual assault? Was it against the President? And my most important question, did it represent femininity at all? Demanding free birth control, feminine products, and abortions is not the way to be successful. In this country, you do not get things because you pleaded for them in your pink genitalia-hats. Rather, you get things when you work hard for them; when you show your powerful strength as a hard-working, respectable woman. That is what it means to be a woman in this country, and for me, that is what it meant for me to march.