I have never been a fan of things like crowds. I don't like general admission concerts or even my school cafeteria. I can't stand shopping malls and I have never gone close to one during the holidays or on Black Friday. It's overwhelming to me. As much as a crowds freak me out, my future as a young female is America freaks me out even more.
On Jan. 21, I realized change was only going to happen if we all do our part. I decided to leave my comfort zone and fight for what I believe in.
(And I'm really glad I did.)
Pink flooded the streets and thousands of posters flew in the air as men, women, children and even some pets marched in the streets of New York City.
The occasion? Protesters fighting for women's rights and equality.
The Women's marches were important. Obviously, being a day after Donald Trump's inauguration, the march was a response to his presidency. But, the march was not against Trump. The march was held by rights women and men are fearing women and similar marginalized groups may lose under Trump's reign.
Marches happened all over. There was the original one in Washington D.C., and a smaller one in Antarctica. Other cities, like Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and even Toronto and London had their own march, too.
White it is safe to say the vast majority of attendees of the march were not in full-favor Trump, not everyone was a Democrat or a women or even against him to begin with.
At one point, I stood behind a women who explained to someone next to her how she voted for Trump but is worried he will make abortions illegal and prevented someone she knows in the LGBTQ+ community from equal rights, and that's why she is there.
When we arrived, I watched two younger girls on the sidewalk changing signs and posing for pictures. Their signs weren't anti-Trump, they said things like "GIRL POWER" and "RAISE BOYS AND GIRLS THE SAME WAY". They too, were worried about their future.
I also noticed how many men there were, and it felt pretty amazing. Shockingly, in 2017 I still hear occasional sexist comments in my high school and there are plenty of self proclaimed "meninists" (I can't believe I just typed that word it isn't even a real word, come on) online that try to prove that men are "superior", or that there is a "superior" gender to begin with. At one point, I heard and saw females yell "my body my choice!" and men replied with "her body her choice".
It was reassuring that there are that many men that cared about women, and in that moment it made forget the boy in one of my classes who told me "girls are too emotional to be president" and that other time I was told not to carry the textbooks I was very capable of carrying because "a boy should".
There were Black Lives Matter posters and posters with cartoons about climate change. Some had memes of Trump and others were about being pro-choice. The people with them ranged from people in wheelchairs to children in strollers with them taped to the back.
There were marching bands, singing, cheering and balloons, but the one thing I didn't see was violence. There wasn't a single verbal or physical fight I witnessed, and New York City Police reported 0 arrests.
The women's march is the epitome of a peaceful protest, and that is what our first amendment allows us to do. The marches were important because they told the world that this is only the beginning. Our future is female just as much as it is male and we have a lot of work to do.
