I'm going to be honest and vulnerable here. I do this because I think that there are people who view the world in extremes. I think that the voice of the people in the middle gets lost sometimes, and that people don't often have an opportunity to look outside of their own box. I think that it is for those reasons that we don't always understand what is happening in the world around us.
If you think the march wasn't important to you, that's good. I'm glad that you have a comfortable life and aren't troubled by hardships. But we aren't all that lucky.
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I've lived almost all of my adult life paycheck to paycheck and often barely or not even that. This wasn't because I spent money frivolously or because I don't know how to budget. I haven't had health insurance until this year since shortly after Lennox was born because I've been relatively healthy and couldn't afford the premiums. I pay luxury tax on necessary items like tampons because there are politicians who don't understand how a woman's body actually works. I returned to work exactly 6 weeks after Lennox was born because I couldn't afford even one more day, and then struggled to pump and when I couldn't, struggled to pay for formula so that I could keep working.
I don't tell you this so you feel sorry for me. I'm pretty happy with my life and in comparison to many of the women that I marched for on Saturday, I have it easy. The last year has brought my snorkle up over the water and this year I'm even able to put some back to do things I want. I'm lucky in that, and I've always been lucky in knowing that I have safe options if something goes terribly wrong. I have friends and family with the desire and ability to help.
But not everyone does. I cannot even begin to list the things that many of us take for granted. We marched because everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and to feel safe as a citizen in this country, and not everyone does. We deserve to live in a country where disrespect to our body is seen as the serious offense it is, not just "boys being boys." We deserve to live in a world where you don't have to learn to shout "Fire!" instead of "Rape!" because that's the only way you will get aid. We deserve to live in a world where our bodies are our own and aren't treated as someone else's property.
These issues aren't confined to women, either. That was only the message of the day. But I hope we will be turning out for the dads fighting for custody of their kids, and those with disabilities who can't get the services nor respect they need, and the people of color who are discriminated against and abused, and the trans people who are made to feel like less and turned away from basic rights.
I don't agree with a lot of the politics being brought forward by President Trump, but we do have at least one thing that we agree on. I want America to be better, too. I never want to look at our country and say eh, good enough. Nothing is perfect. There will always be things we can improve. I don't feel the need to sit down and say good enough.
It isn't.
