Ladies, in most cases, I don’t presume to tell you what to do. Yes, I think all of you should own multiple tools and stop nagging the dudes in your life to change light fixtures and hang pictures because, hey, you have two hands and a brain and the shit isn’t that hard to do. But you may think I should do things like laundry and dishes—which most days I would rather give myself a paper cut on my eyeball that do—so to each her own.
And honestly, I don’t much care for politics in general. I don’t care about your political affiliation, the skin color of the president, or what party has how many seats in Congress. Mostly I just want to be able to carry my gun, do with my body as I please, and ban cigarettes from every possible public venue so I can breathe fresh air whenever I damn well please. You could say I’m your typical lazy American, but regardless, I will tell you what I do at every chance I get: I vote.
You know why?
When my great-grandmother was born, women couldn’t vote. They staged protests, they picketed in front of the White House, they were thrown in jail to “teach them a lesson”, they were beaten, and let me tell you I get pissy if I have to skip lunch some days but these women were so committed to equality that they starved themselves for days, were locked in insane asylums, and forcibly fed when someone shoved a tube down their throat and into their stomach… just so that we could have a say.
If a hundred years ago women spent weeks in jail starving themselves and being force fed to gain the right for you to vote, you can take 15 minutes out of your day to use the voice they gave you.
While locked up in jail for protesting in front of the White House, Doris Stevens wrote this:
Our thoughts turn to the outside world. Will the women care? Will enough women believe that through such humiliation all may win freedom? Will they believe that through our imprisonment their slavery will be lifted the sooner?
I’ll tell you what, I do.
For a lesson in not taking our civil liberties for granted, read Doris Steven’s book Jailed for Freedom for free on Google books.
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Comments
Melissa
Well said. Thank you.
Kelly
Wow, that was very powerful thanks!
carrie @ brick city love
Ditto. Go vote.
Robin
Bravo! I watched a show about this on the History channel and it was very moving. I asked everyone at work today if they had voted or were planning to and gave them crap if they said “no.”
Oh and I couldn’t agree with statement more:
Mostly I just want to be able to carry my gun, do with my body as I please, and ban cigarettes from every possible public venue so I can breathe fresh air whenever I damn well please.
Aimee
Great post! And yes, I voted. Did it early even.
Joseph
No, no guns, no, no, no. Even so, I did vote yesterday and voted for my candidates. Thank god the opposition didn’t win governor or senator. Nationwide, I’m in the soup pretty much. But I did my part. And you are very right about what people went through to get the vote, although I speak as a white male. Interestingly enough, I am currently reading a biography on Martin Luther King, Jr. I actually lived through that time of lunch counter sit-ins and voter registration movements, but I was born and raised in Montana, and I had no idea of the depth of degradation black people went through in the South at that time.
Andrea
Amen sister!! Agree with every word!! And shame on those women who didn’t vote!