A Rant and Call to Action for Recreational Feminists

November 6th, 2024

Currently Reading: How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth

Currently Watching: All Of Us Are Dead

Currently Listening: Sympathetic Nervous System Sound Bath | Soothing Sound Therapy to Calm the Body's Stress Response

Everyone thought Hilary was a shoo-in for the 2016 election because she made white feminists cream their pants and had a long career in politics. She was experienced. He was not. He still won. And you can say it's because of the misinformation campaigns. You can say it's because Leftists are too caught up in ideology to think pragmatically. You can say those things and you'd probably be right. Everyone in my circle was focusing on calling Hilary Clinton a war criminal. Everyone outside of my circle was too. Wasn't Trump's whole deal "Lock Her Up"?

Biden runs against Trump. Biden wins. Leftists say, yeah he's not ideal but Vote Blue No Matter Who™ and the race is still close, but he wins.

This election cycle they were reporting a close race. And when you look at the state level, yes, it was close. Popular vote was close. Why Kamala and her team decided to treat Florida like a lost cause is beyond me. Like yeah, we're more Red than Purple these days, but that's 30 Electoral Collage votes. Even if you lose it, why not encourage voters to vote Dem down the ticket? She did only have 100 days.

But even so, people I know that abstained from voting or voted third party did so because they are single issue voters and the issue is Palestine. Palestine! If you support Palestine why on earth would you throw away your vote and allow Trump, the President who officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to win? Because a woman has to be perfect to win and a man simply has to be a man.

I know it's hard to imagine, but the US has a history. Making a political statement to lose an established ally is a big fucking deal. Could Biden have done more? Yeah, probably, but there's more to it than that (I suggest you read Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics to learn more about the history of US involvement in Israel/Palestine relations). But does that even matter for Kamala's campaign? Should Biden's actions and inactions be used to justify Kamala's loss?

The role of the Vice President is to support the President. A role fit for a woman...

When I was little, my mom told me, "You can be President if you want." This was monumental because my mother, an immigrant, can never be President of the United States. I, however, was born in this country. I had possibilities. I am not yet 35 so I guess there's still time to advance my political career, but honestly I don't think a woman can win the presidency in my lifetime.

In kindergarden, we had a poster of all the Presidents we had up until that point. No women. My kindergarden teacher said, "One of the girls in this room could be the first female President." I thought, honestly, I thought that I wouldn't be old enough to run by the time we have a female president. Well, next election cycle I will be 35. My birthday is actually the day after Inauguration Day. Wouldn't it be poetic to have a woman sworn in on January 20th, 2029?

America is not ready for a woman to be president because America does not respect women.

To double down on the pain I am feeling as a woman in this country, I live in Florida where abortion rights were on the ballot. 57% of Floridians voted to enshrine abortion rights in our constitution. The measure needed 60% to pass. We were so close.

Once again, I am embarrassed to call myself a Floridian. But to be fair, even if we had gotten the constitutional ammendment, DeSantis would do everything in his power to stop it. Remember when we elected to restore voting rights to felons who had served their time? Then when they voted in midterms and primaries they were arrested because they suddenly had fines they didn't have before? Thus making them ineligible to vote? Remember how DeSantis used fascism tacticts to limit our rights over and over and over again?

It may be hard for some of you to understand why women say abortion is a human right or any Pro-Choice argument when you fundamentally believe that abortion is murder. I don't want to derail too much, but I would like to explain why abortion bans restrict the rights of women. I have two hypotheticals to help you discover where your morality lies. First, imagine there's been a horrific car accident. Emily dies instantly at the scene. She is not an organ donor. Her brother, Mark, is in critical condition. He needs a new heart and his sister is a perfect match. Does Mark have the right to Emily's heart?

Legally, no. She did not give consent before her death for anyone to use her organs to sustain someone else's life. Do you believe it right for her brother to have it anyway?

Or how about this: Emily and Mark are both alive. Mark needs a new kidney. Should Emily be legally required to give him a kidney? Emily doesn't want to undergo the procedure. It's dangerous and will alter her future health. Should Emily be legally required to give up her own body to sustain her brother?

Why are you advocating for a fetus to have more rights than any other American citizen? Because they can't live without the mother? Mark can't live without Emily. Whose life matters more? In no other case are you required to sustain another human life by offering your own body. Dead or alive.

Pregnancy is dangerous and the US has an extremely high maternal mortality rate for a developed nation. We rank 122 in the world according to the CIA and have a higher instance of maternal death than the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Are you going to tell Emily she doesn't deserve a full life and access to her own body because Mark is dying? Is Mark's life worth more than hers?

I'm tired of Florida being considered a lost cause. There are real people here who are really in danger. Women are dying. Does anyone even care?

I'm tired of being told what a woman can and cannot do. Women are not children and I don't want to be treated like one. I don't want to smile for you. I don't want to have fewer rights over my own body than a corpse. I don't want my boundaries ignored because you don't agree with them. I am an adult and I deserve more than the crumbs you give me.

We deserve more.

That's why I'm asking everyone to donate to the following organizations which offer Floridians the healthcare they need:

It's time to stop being a recreational feminist and actually do the work.

--Beacon