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A day without a
woman?
By Susan Olling
A local commentator, whose opinions I respect, raised a good question
about what went on 08 Mar: who were women in this country trying to
educate? Any answers out there? If you want to hear
his excellent comments, follow this link and go to 08 Mar:
http://wtop.com/core-values-chris-core/.
I read various articles about a day without a woman. I’m done
retching (and laughing) now. (Yes, I’ll be using lower case for
the name of what went on last Wednesday—just couldn’t take it
seriously.)
I asked in the last installment what more could women in this country
want (in the context of the 21 Jangroups of fashion statements wearing
silly pink things on their heads). I was frankly quite
mystified at this latest effort by women who seemed to think that the
rest of us would mindlessly fall into line. Two school systems in
the greater D.C. environs closed because so many staff and teachers
weren’t going to be at work on 08 Mar. Apparently they didn’t
think about parents who had to scramble for child care. Our
schools were open. To whoever made that decision, thank you.
Apparently, 08 Mar was about gender equality and showing how valuable
women are to American society. And protesting the current
administration. On what planet do the women who think up this
stuff live? I have nothing in common with the women who organize
this stuff. And the participants. They don’t speak for
me. I have never felt unequal or not valued.
As far as protesting the current administration, please read on.
As I mentioned the last time, I voted for neither candidate. If
your knickers are still in a knot about who’s living in the White
House, it’s past time to move on. The election’s been over for a
few months now, the results aren’t going to change, and the current
occupant of the White House seems to have other things on his plate
rather than oppressing women in this country. Would all this
caterwauling have occurred if the Democratic candidate had moved
into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in January? Of course not.
The organizers of this “strike” apparently wanted men to help
with “domestic responsibilities” on 08 Mar. I take this to mean
household chores. My husband likes to say he came
domesticated. For almost twenty-three years now, Mr. History’s
helped with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping, among
other chores. He was doing all these things when he was single
and saw no reason to stop when we got married. And he irons his
uniforms. I’ve offered to help with that task, but he always says
no. (Mr. History thinks there should be a day without a
woman—for guys. You gentlemen could watch sports all day, sit
around in your underwear, eat pizza, smoke stogies, belch when you
want, no shower, no shaving. And no nagging from women about any
of it.)
Like a day without immigrants, which was bust, a day without a woman
didn’t seem to be a soaring success, either. It wasn’t the lead
story on either national news program I watched on 08 Mar. There
were no hordes of protesting women on the National Mall. It
was even harder to take any of this seriously when one network reported
the story of a woman who took the day off and was playing with her kids
in their yard. Really? The members of Congress who made an
appearance outside the Capitol could have set a better example by
staying inside and getting some work done. If nothing important
is on your agendas, a reminder. There’s a deadline coming up at
the end of April, folks. Surprise us, and get a budget for the
rest of 2017 in place before then. Won’t happen. Y’all like
the drama too much.
To women in this country who think they are apparently unequal or not
valuable, consider what we can do here. We can drive cars, vote,
and own property. We can take advantage of education and
have careers. We can serve in the military, command troops,
and now, thanks to president forty-four, serve in front-line combat
units. We don’t have to wear clothing that covers us from
head to toe with just slits so we can see. Our neighborhoods
haven’t been turned into rubble by airplanes or other weapons.
There aren’t tanks or soldiers on our streets. We’re not living
in refugee camps. We (Americans) are the most spoiled people on
earth. Wednesday, 08 Mar, did nothing to change that
opinion.
What more do women in this country want? I would be curious to
know. Keep in mind, though, this isn’t a perfect world. You
can ask for the sun, moon, and stars. But you won’t get all
three.
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