I am all about women's rights. I’ve done countless presentations on anything from gender wage equality to maternity leave issues in America. I can’t bite my tongue when a family member states that a woman's “job” is to clean, cook and raise the children. I’ve never believed being a woman makes me less than a man — and I stand behind this in front of anyone, anytime.
One thing I can’t bring myself to stand behind is the Women’s March, taking place in Washington this Saturday.
It’s not that I don't support women’s rights, because I most definitely do. But I don’t support the idea that this march is the best way of demonstrating the desire to make changes in America.
As the Women’s March’s website states, yes the "rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized and threatened many of us." But it wasn't just women experiencing these insults. Muslims were displayed as security threats and Mexicans as rapists. The list of people Trump offended during the election is a long one. But the Women's March is making it all about women, instead of realistically addressing the diverse groups of people who felt stereotyped and degraded.
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If the organizers were really faced with the question of "how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear" after the election, why is it called the Women’s March? That’s far from inclusive of all people who are disappointed with the election results — meanwhile 42% of women voted for Trump. Therefore the “Women’s March” title just doesn't seem to line up with the main reason this event was created right after the election results were in.
If we are going to focus on “women’s rights” there are some things that need to be addressed. While Trump has said some extremely questionable and inapproipjte things about women, we can’t deny that since winning the election things haven’t been anti-women’s rights.
It's naive that women are marching against someone who is actually speaking out about progressive changes in the favor of women. Trump has supported equal pay, government mandated maternity leave and child tax deductions. He has appointed three women into his cabinet and raised a vocal feminist, Ivanka Trump.
So what really is the issue this march is standing for? Women’s reproductive rights? The sexual misconduct in Trump’s history? I don’t really care what the main issue is— but why isn't it being clearly identified?
If the issue is women’s reproductive rights, that makes sense— Trump has made it very clear how he feels about abortion. But why are we still calling it the "Women’s March" then? Not all women are actually Pro-Choice, many are Pro-Life. And on top of that there are many Pro-Choice men out there, yet I don't feel that they are identified, or even welcomed, in regards to this demonstration on Washington.
The same thing goes with if sexual assault awareness is the goal of this march-- this too isn't just a women’s issue.
Honestly, the participants of the Women’s March probably have some important changes they want to make but this one event isn't going to get them there. It doesn't represent “women” as a whole, makes the issues all about the female gender instead of realizing these things actually effect society as a whole and, at this point, protesting Trump isn't going to bring America together.
If you want to make a change, a marching demonstration isn't going to be the turning point today. We can't just have this march and expect all the issues to be solved. Strive to elect officials into office that care about what is important to you. Donate to causes that work on these issues year round. Speak up within your community and bring to light the issues that need to change. Care about the issues you want to change every day, not just on January 21st during the march.
