For the life of me, I will NEVER understand the reasoning behind the lack of support for the Women's March. You don't have to be a feminist to support equal rights. You don't even have to feel oppressed to support equal rights. Just because you're a woman who doesn't hate men doesn't mean you don't stand for women's rights. Guess what? The vast majority of feminists do NOT hate men! The March wasn't about women hating men, misogynists or even Donald Trump. The March stood for women caring about each other and the rights guaranteed to them by the constitution.
If you're a woman who feels safe, secure, liberated and respected in our country right now, congratulations. You are one of the few. Women all over the United States and all over the world suffer every day because they have been denied equality. And now, the man that sits in the highest position of authority in one of the world's greatest super powers, enables young boys and men everywhere to believe that men and women are not guaranteed the same rights.
I am genuinely gladdened by the fact that you are satisfied with the rights you already have. But guess what? The rights you have, the rights you feel are enough, were once marched, protested, fought over and died for. Someone, somewhere in history gave their time, freedom and even their lives, in some cases, for you to sit back and degrade others for marching. Women such as Maud Wood Park, Mary McLeod Bethune, Rose Schneiderman, and even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt fought for the rights that you take for granted every single day. Every single human right we have today was once marched for.
Perhaps you refuse to march or support the movement because it would require you to be labeled as a "feminist" or to fight for women who don't have the same rights you do. You're satisfied with the rights you have? You think women have all the rights they need? Congratulations, you're ignorant. Alice Paul, who fought for women's suffrage in the early part of the 20th century, bravely said, "It is incredible to me that any woman should consider the fight for full equality won. It has just begun." Those famous words still ring true today. How can you sit comfortably in your home, knowing there are women all over the world, including the United States, who suffer everyday for being biologically female. Women are still defiled, raped, abused, objectified and taken advantage of. Yes, I use the word still. Equality did not magically appear in 1920 with our right to vote. A major step forward doesn't get you all the way to the finish line. How can you sit there and mock those who fight for not only their rights as well as yours, but the rights of women everywhere?
You disagree with abortion. Fine. That is your right and you probably have a well-thought and justifiable argument. But that is not a good enough reason to be against Women's March and the Feminist Movement as a whole. Unlike your gun-loving, confederate flag flying, friend on Facebook said, the Women's March was not women marching for the right to kill their babies. If that is what you think nearly two million women and men across the nation marched for, you are the reason women feel oppressed in the first place.
Those brave women and men marched for the equality. The movement our nation has fought over for its entire existence. You love the country you live in? Marching, protesting and fighting for equality is part of the foundation of this country. The people who marched on January 21st, 2017 are endowed with the same spirit of those who poured tea into the Boston Harbor, fought for the 19th amendment and descended on Washington D.C on August 28th, 1963 for their Civil Rights. Never forget that the rights you feel should be "enough" were once marched and fought for. Don't criticize the January 21st March, respect those men and women for realizing that our fight for equality is far from won.
