What if I’m a sinner? I ain’t exactly alone It’s my body, and my body ain’t Nobody’s business but my own I know what I’m doing I know who I am If you’ve got a problem? I don’t give a damn!
~ The Life
For centuries people have tried to tell us who to be and who to please. People have tried to tell us who we are and who we should be. Be prettier (but not too pretty), be smarter (but not too smart), be proud but don’t advertise, be yourself but don’t be intimidating. And whatever you do, don’t let yourself be different. That might get you noticed, and after all you don’t want to rock the boat. If something happens to you you must have been asking for it.
And so we stand by, learning to be silent, trying to figure out just who it is we’re supposed to be.
And I’m not just talking about women. I am many things, and woman is only one of them. I’m also LGBTQ (yup, rainbow and proud, take it or leave it), I’m an artist, I’m – as best as I can be – an environmentalist, I’m a Pagan. I am a myriad of things. I am lucky enough to be born Caucasian, so I know nothing of the struggle that so many have been plagued with, but I feel deeply for those who are all too familiar with that battle. I do not speak for them, that’s absolutely not my right, merely stand with them.
The thing is, we are tired of the sidelines. All of us on the fringes, all of us who have been pushed to one side because we’re just a little bit different, or just a little bit outside the socially acceptable norm, or who happen to identify differently. Everyone that society has trodden down on whatever level.
We’re done.
Totally and utterly done.
Women have fought for centuries for the right to be seen as equals. People of Colour have fought for centuries to be seen as *human*. LGQBT have fought for decades to be seen as natural and normal. Current events (and proposals for future events) have pushed those fights to the limits, hard fought for rights are being revoked, equality stands to be striped, people are in danger of being dehumanized, we stand on the threshold of the cultural world turning back centuries. And if someone doesn’t stand up and do something about it before it gets momentum, then it will be too late.
And I, for one, do not intend to sit and let that happen. Nobody should. So you can’t do much, it doesn’t matter, do something. Support your local artists, even if it just means going up to someone and telling them “hey, you’re awesome”, go to a theatrical production, shop at an arts market. Donate to a woman’s shelter, donate to a museum, sponsor a child, sponsor a grandmother, donate to planned parenthood, read the newspapers (the REAL papers, not the fake ones) find out what is happening,
educate yourself, enlighten yourself…do something. Because if enough people do something then things change in spite of themselves. The thing is, big changes happen if no one does anything as well, but I guarantee you, you won’t like the outcome as much.
Do something.
Tomorrow afternoon, at least 2 million sets of feet will hit the pavement. Those footsteps will echo worldwide; we will not stand for tracks that push us backwards. We will not stand silently by and watch the world fall.
We will fight. Not with guns, not with violence – because those have been tried and they help no one and hurt many. With actions, with words, with the statement of OVER 2 MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE for one cause.
Our wombs. Our relationships. Our choices. Our Body. Our orientation. Our career. Our love. Our laughter. Our religion. OUR RIGHT.
A woman’s place? Is wherever the hell she wants to be.
We will not go back to the darkness.
And I will stand. By. My brothers and sisters.
And if you think “Our father in heaven” is bad, just you wait until MOM gets home!
Peace out.