In Praise of Women, and in Fear for Them

Sculpture by Jiménez Deredia, Mexico City 2016

On this International Women's Day I am grateful for the strong women of my family who raised me to be confident in myself and my intellect, and with high expectations of what I might accomplish. Without them, it's hard to imagine what would have become of me. And I'm grateful for growing up at a time when women's rights were at the forefront of American consciousness, because it meant that doors opened for me that weren't open previously, and I was able to benefit from the fight waged by women ten, twenty, thirty years older on so many fronts, from access to education and a broader range of career choices, to contraception and abortion, better pay (even if not equal), the option not to have children and stay (or become) single without stigma, and so many other areas of life. In the late 1960s and 1970s it felt like the world was finally opening for us, and that equal rights -- enshrined in a constitutional amendment --were certainly around the corner.

We can't dismiss how much has been accomplished, but I'm dismayed to reflect upon how wrong we were on the political side of things. Fifty years later, and there still hasn't been a woman president, while political leaders from Hilary Clinton to Nancy Pelosi have been mocked and vilified by the conservatives. Young women today have less control over their bodies than we did, less access to female health care, and even run the risk of being prosecuted in some states for their choices. The number of female victims of gun violence, domestic violence, rape, vicious attacks on social media, and death from opioid addiction, depression and suicide, are staggering. These statistics are not just shocking, they're despicable.

And the plight of many women of minority race, ethnicity, non-hetero identity, or who are simply poor, is far worse. This is true in every developed country, and of course even much more true in many other places in the world. How can we possibly begin to address the great injustices these women face when simply to be female continues to place one at a disadvantage from birth -- at best -- and in actuality means that our risk of everything from marginalization to oppression to physically harm is greater, just for the fact that we are female? And yet, that is exactly what we must do, now perhaps more than ever. Because the women who "won" some of the advantages back when I was young, and have been able to have better lives as a result, were more likely to be white and economically privileged, like me.

I'm thinking today of the courageous women I met in Mexico City on this day four years ago, demonstrating against the violent "disappearance" of so many Mexican women. I'm thinking of my friend Shirin and what she has told me about women today in Iran. I'm thinking about refugees I have met from Africa -- women who escaped terrible situations and survived journeys toward a hoped-for freedom; some of whom were able to gain asylum and some who were deported to an uncertain fate. I'm thinking of women in detention centers, or whose bones now lie in the desert near the US/Mexican border, or at the bottom of the sea.

And I am thinking about women in general: our strength, our resilience and resourcefulness, our endless ability to do what we have to do to care for those around us in spite of everything that life throws at us, our ability to form enduring and powerful friendships, and, most of all, our ability to love. What would the world be without us?

So for me it's a day of renewed commitment to help the women who are younger than I am in whatever ways I can. To try to help them find their way and their own strength in a world that has more opportunities than we had, but is harsh, hostile and frightening in ways we never had to experience when we were their age. How I hope that, in fifty more years, equality of all people will be much closer to a reality! But it will never come if we sit on our heels waiting, or ask meekly, or expect change without fighting for it, because this is a fight that will never be over, so long as the powers-that-be are in charge of the world.

Comments

[Peter]

I think historians will recognize 2016 as the high water mark of the rights movement for our generation. The first black president was finishing his term, the first credible woman candidate was running; the laws recognized the rights and needs of Black men and all women — to an extent, anyway — and those of the LGBTQ community. And then came Trump, calling out themes of racism, hatred, fear and cruelty that we thought had been extirpated but had only been bottled up all our lives. And the world turned upside down in four years. I admire you for using he tools you have to fight on.

[KsarantKostas]

A powerful statement. Your analysis of where we stand today is sadly correct. In the early days of Trump’s occupation of the White House, I started to fear that The Handmaid’s Tale might be prophetic of things to come in the U.S. That fear grew stronger and is even worse today, despite the fact that there is a Democrat in the White House. Republican-ruled states are hell bent on proving Margaret Atwood prescient. Just today the NYT published an article about a lawsuit in Texas against two women who helped their friend get access to abortion pills. It is a chilling story from one of the most chilling states in the U.S. But as long as there are Women (mostly White) for Trump, women’s rights will continue to be threatened and regressed. Same with civil rights and other rights that were gained after decades of hard work and activism. I’m very sad. Sorry if I’m commenting almost a week after you wrote this. I’ve been a little preoccupied. Plus it’s only now that I discovered what I need to do in order to comment on your blog! I haven’t even been able to ‘Like’ any of your posts. But I’m signed in with my Twitter account now - which I hardly ever use, but thank God it’s good for something now that it helps me comment! Thank you for your bold writing and beautiful art. Yours is a true spirit of God’s love.