Damn, that’s a lot of stairs.
This is a photo of six year old me climbing the biggest set of stairs I had ever seen and it sums up exactly how I feel today about the state of women’s rights in this country of ours–a country that waves a flag of freedom in one hand and pushes women down with the other. We climb and climb and climb and when we look up to see how far we’ve come we are hit hard with the reality of how far we still need to go.
Really? We’re not there yet? I didn’t realize there would be so much push back.
I don’t know if it’s one step forward, two steps back or if someone is adding more steps at the top but it seems we women can’t get a break…a breather…a moment to relish what we HAVE accomplished without risking our precarious footing on these ancient steps.
Who built this damn staircase anyway? There has got to be a better way to the top.
Each day brings a new story of legislators trying to stick it to women. We read the news every morning and think, “This again? They are seriously bringing THIS up again? I thought we already won this fight.”
So we put on our boots and climb again…one overwhelming and repetitive step at a time….to revisit topics we thought we had put behind us.
Yes, you can have equal rights, but you can’t have them in all things.
Yes, you can have choice, but your choices are limited by our myopic whims.
Lose a turn. Go back two steps. Thanks for playing.
They will stop at nothing: overt sexism, covert sexism, fear of god, scare tactics, bullying, and the ever offensive stealth attacks including attaching anti-women legislation onto unrelated bills and late night votes when they hope no one is watching.
(Exhibit #327: N.C. Legislature OKs abortion limits via motorcycle safety legislation http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/11/north-carolina-slips-abortion-restrictions-into-motorcycle-safety-bill/)
Hey, guess what. We can see you. From our vantage point on these stairs we can see everything you are doing. You have our attention AND our condemnation. What you don’t have is our respect…or our vote.
Your days are numbered. We women are going to continue our climb and maybe you should know a few things:
- This is the 21st century and this one step at a time thing is all in the past. We’re putting in an express escalator.
- Sign any bill you want if it makes you feel important, but know that we’re not really impressed and we don’t plan to follow your rules.
And finally
- When we get to the top of the stairs—and we’re going to get there faster than you realize because your kind is dying out–we’re probably going to hold a grudge so, men, gird your ever lovin’ loins.
~~~
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