You are currently browsing all posts tagged with 'women’s issues'.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 entries.

The Republican Primary, Religion, and Women’s Issues

  • Posted on February 28, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Barbara Kruger, Your Body Is a Battleground

I have been reading the book, “50 Women Artists You Should Know”, and of course I came across the work of Barbara Kruger.  I am familiar with her work from other pieces I have seen.  However, this image says it all for me in terms of the current state of political affairs.  I feel frustrated as a woman during this presidential primary season.  I cannot possibly relate to any of the Republican candidates because they are ready to take me back to some crazy time where women are once again submissive to the whims of their mates.  I thought we had gotten over all of this but of course during the 2008 election I realized that women were still vastly mistreated in the world of good old boy politics.  I remember the mistreatment of first Hillary Clinton and then Sarah Palin by those same good old boys that just couldn’t deal with any woman having the nerve to run for the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the United States of America.  Back to the future of politics, 2012, and I feel like I am somewhere lost in time.

Rick Santorum says some of the craziest things.  Unfortunately, I think he believes the things he is saying which is very scary for most educated people actually living in the 21st century.  Who would have ever guessed that contraception would become the big issue of the 2012 election?  We have an economy that is flat, millions of people out of work, an infrastructure built after WWII in vast need of repair, cities that are crumbling, wars in the Middle East and yet he is more concerned about women’s bodies than anything else.  It befuddles my mind.  I always thought most men wanted some form of contraception.  I didn’t think all men wanted to raise large families.  It seems to me this has been a settled issue.  While most people believe in a separation of church and state, Rick believes the opposite.  The more I hear in this election the more I am frustrated by religious zealots.  I want a clear separation of church and state.  I don’t want to have to follow Rick’s form of God any more than some other religious zealot’s form of religion.

As I look at the other Republicans I see more of the same.  I have some brothers that like Romney.  However, after listening to Rick I can see that Romney and his form of religion could be just as bad.  One of my brothers is a Mormon.  I am divorced.  He once told me that the only way I could get to Heaven is through my ex-husband.  Now that’s a scary thought.  I must already be doomed to the depths of hell if I have to depend on my ex-husband for anything quite so important.  I have also heard about the concept of the baptism of dead people.  I don’t quite understand it.  My parents were Catholic.  I don’t know if my brother has performed the magic baptism on them, but I know my parents wouldn’t be happy if he did!  I am aware that Romney has participated in this concept but he isn’t talking about it.

I really don’t care what your religion is or whether you have a religion.  However, I do care if your religion wants to get involved in my government and create laws that will have an impact on my life.  I believe a woman has a right to her privacy when it comes to her health care.  Men shouldn’t be making decisions for women in the 21st Century.  Women are strong and should make their own decisions about their bodies.  Period!  They don’t need a “daddy” figure in the government controlling their bodies.  If a woman is involved with a mate chances are they will make decisions together.  However, what Rick Santorum, Mitt, or Newt think, really shouldn’t have an impact on my life or any other woman’s life.  They are entitled to their beliefs but they don’t need to make women’s lives miserable with their paternal power.  Newt really cracks me up because when he was messing around on all of his wives I’m sure he was happy that his many women were using some form of contraception!

All this primary election has done for me has made me wish that none of my tax dollars would go to “faith based” entities.  Churches that are exempt from taxation receive oodles of cash from the government to perform their “faith based initiatives”.  Many people aren’t even remotely aware of this funding that has grown over the years.  The group Americans United are for a distinct separation of church and state and I am all for that.  You can check out their website here and read about the faith based initiatives.  http://www.au.org/

The other day I was reading Sky Dancers blog and Bostonboomer posted a video clip from JFK’s speech on religion.  If you haven’t seen it you should watch it.  He talks about the kind of America he believes in.  It is spot on for today.  It is timely.  Watch it and think about what kind of country you want America to be.

Then move on to George Carlin.  Of course you can’t watch George if you’re a prude because he will violate your ears in the way that only George can.  What is amazing is how George is dead but his genius lives on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWC4sHbIV0

Continue reading The Republican Primary, Religion, and Women’s Issues »

Care to leave a comment? »

Women’s History Month, Geraldine and Our Future

  • Posted on March 27, 2011 at 1:38 pm

Geraldine, the picture of competency!

A lot of people don’t even realize that March is Women’s History month.  http://www.womenshistorymonth.gov/index.html

It isn’t surprising to me because so many months have become something dedicated to this cause or that cause.  After awhile, they all start blending together.    As a woman, I am partial to the cause of women’s issues.  Some people think that the glass ceiling was shattered when Geraldine Ferraro ran for Vice President in 1984.  However, that is just not true.  It is fitting that Geraldine died during “Women’s History” month though because we have an opportunity to think about just how far we have or haven’t come.  This is the Geraldine that I will choose to remember.  She was a strong advocate for the issues and she called things as she saw them.  I wish we had more women politicians and advocates that are willing to stand up for the issues like Geraldine.

You can read more about Geraldine here.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/politics/27geraldine-ferraro.html?hp

On my website I have a link for the equal rights amendment that sadly has never been ratified.  At the rate the Republicans are going a fetus will have equal rights before women do.   http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/116904/this_ohio_fetus_can_walk

Our country is still a male dominated country.  The laws are made mostly by men.  Until women can reach the top and become the legislators that actually pass and create the laws, we will continue to be second class citizens.   I think we all could learn something from Sojourner Truth.  Here is Alice Walker reading “Ain’t I a Woman”.  It’s amazing that we haven’t really reached that glass ceiling and shattered it after all these years.  This is a great tribute, so watch it.

I worry about the young women today and the images that they see for women.  It seems like equality is more about being able to act like a man than being able to discover who you are as a woman.  On one hand women have these images that they are told they should live up to that are designed to attract men.  These images are of young “air head” type women that share their sexual escapades.  These women like Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters and all the other young starlets send a message that women are more about sex than brains.  Freedom for women seems to be more about that “sex” thing than it is about that “thinking” thing.  Young women today may think they have broken barriers but so many are still asking a male for permission to do whatever they need to do in their lives.  Until women stand up for themselves and use their brains and not their sexuality to get what they want, they will always be marginalized.

During the 2008 election both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were sexualized in a way that a male politician would never be.  We, the women of the world, have to demand that this stop.  When we see pictures of Sarah’s ankles, and hear talk about Hillary’s “cankles”, we as women, have to scream bloody murder that this is sexism and it has to stop.  We cannot allow our female children to be constantly bombarded with the images that sexualize them without demanding that it stop as well.  Women have to start voting in blocks.  We just cannot let men keep running the world.

Right now in Michigan we have men telling us that education has to take a big hit.  The politicians in Lansing want to give big tax breaks to business and take the money out of the mouth of our children through education.  Everyone should be offended by this.  However, women should be even more offended as we are way under represented in state politics.  Here is our list of representatives.   http://house.michigan.gov/replist.asp

It’s fairly obvious that most of the “deciders” in our state are MEN.  If you need more proof, here is the list of our senators.  http://www.senate.michigan.gov/members/alphamemberlist.htm

I think we need to stick together as women and try to change the policies and politics in Lansing and of course, across this country in Washington D.C.  We have more women in this country, but we are kept apart in our thinking by men who push an agenda that is called “family values”.  We get all worked up over social political issues like abortion and gay marriage that we are left controlled by politicians that use these issues just to get votes.  If women would get together and talk about the issues that are important to them on a daily basis like education, jobs, police protection, and the issues based around the cost of living and raising our children in a positive environment, we could probably agree on more things than we disagree.  Instead, we sit back and tend to let those male “deciders” make all the big decisions for us.  I, for one, am tired of a government that makes crazy decisions about education and everything else in my life that may not be in the best interest of our country or state.  We need to stand together as women or we will fall again for that “big daddy decider” that isn’t as smart as we are on the issues!  We have “skin in this game”, one of those sport’s analogy that the men like to use.  We have the future of our children at stake.  What kind of life do we want for them?  Do we want them to have less than we have had?  Do we want them to be servants to the master of big business, just another little spoke in the wheel of business progress or do we want to keep their dreams alive?  I for one want this country to transform into the country that it was meant to be that serves for the good of all and not just the few.  I want our country to stand for peoples’ rights, not corporations’ rights.  I want women to have the same opportunities as men and that includes even in politics!  You may or may not agree with anything I write about, but if you think about it women still have a long way to go.  It’s time that women stand up and become the shakers and movers of this country.  Our country needs us because without women in the game of politics, men will walk all over us!  We must vote and we must encourage those strong women we know to seek public office.

Continue reading Women’s History Month, Geraldine and Our Future »

Care to leave a comment? »

Women in Congress

  • Posted on January 31, 2011 at 9:49 pm

Woman of Substance

I have been thinking about women tonight.  I’m thinking about the women that I know and have known.  My mother was a wonderful woman, strong, stable and determined.  She had 14 children and managed to go back to teaching when I was just a youngster.  I think she was an amazing woman.  The truth be told there are many amazing women in our country right now.  Some are out working jobs and some are home doing the ultimate job of raising children.  Some manage to do both and some, like me, do it alone.  The point I’m getting at is there are a lot of strong women in this country that are capable of doing pretty much anything they set their mind to do.

I personally think that we are under represented in Congress and because of it we have little influence on any branch of government.  We may vote and think we have influence but the truth is the majority of the laws are made by men.  No man really knows how a woman thinks and no woman would really want a man to speak for her.  However, year after year, even though we have a little over half of the population, we continue to vote in these men to offices that control every aspect of our lives.

Tonight I came across this website which is very educational and a little disheartening.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/

The really frightening part of the website can be found on this page.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/historical-data/

This is where all of the historical data is about women in Congress.  If you click on the interactive map you will be able to see all of the women from every state that have been elected to Congress.  The data is scary because there are so many states that have had so few women representing them.  In fact, Mississippi has never had a woman senator or representative.  They may have some women at the state level as I have not looked that up.  However, it is appalling to think that we have been a country for over two hundred years and even though women have had the vote for around ninety or so years, we still can’t get women elected at the federal level.  Until this happens, the laws will always be made my men.

Maybe some of you think this is fine and dandy.  From my perspective those men haven’t been doing all that great of a job.  Maybe it’s time that women grabbed the checkbook and figured out how to balance the budget, educate our kids and keep us safe from the bad guys.  Men just seem to keep that “good old boy” mentality going.  I think it’s time for women to unite and create their own party!  How about, “Women United for a Better America”.

Most women that are mothers have had to do battle with their young teens from time to time.  They carry those battle scars with pride because they know that some day their child might thank them for it.  If not, they still know they did what they were supposed to do.  We’ve all heard our moms tell us to do something and when we asked we got that, “Because I told you so!” answer.  It may have not been satisfying to hear as a youngster but it was consistent.  As we grew up we might have even used it on our own kids.  Many of us have had to be the bad cop when dad only wanted to be the good cop, so many know how to be tough when they have to be.  Now I come to President Obama.  He can’t say, “No” and he is so wishy, washy that he usually says, “Maybe!” and that is just indecisive.  Mothers know that you just say, “No” because anything else could be a form of weakness.  There will be times when you do say, “Yes!” but the kids will know they earned whatever it was they were trying to get.

Now, I know I sound like I’m just being funny here.  This is just my attempt at humor, but really this is no laughing matter.  We, as women, deserve to be fully represented in our country.  Until we have a seat at the decision making table of government, we will always be second class citizens or the small children at the Thanksgiving dinner party that have to eat at the “little kid’s table”.  We may laugh at that table, but we always are so happy when we are grown up enough to sit at the adult’s table.

Continue reading Women in Congress »

Care to leave a comment? »