VOTE

It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.  But they did not believe the women, because their words seem to them like nonsense."
Luke 24:10-11

We are all products of our environment.  I grew up a in a conservative town raised by middle-class Christian parents.  I am now a middle-class woman, back in that same town, raising my daughters in conditions similar to my youth.  The people from my childhood probably still see me very much as that young girl, much as I will always see my daughters as they are now. The danger with this is people change as they grow into adulthood, and friction can occur -- teenage rebellion, for example -- when one has grown and changed into something new, and is not being taken seriously as they are, instead being seen as another believes them to be.



Today is election day, and I want to recall to you two separate political conversations I've had recently, with two men that have known and loved me my entire life.  The first conversation was about the Kavanaugh confirmation.  I was told the reason I reached my conclusion about his unfitness as SCOTUS is because I am married to my husband, Eric. The irony of the situation was unreal -- while in conversation about who and what is believeable, my thoughts and ideas weren't even believed as my own.

The next conversation was about general politics, and after correcting this man about his misuse of fact, it was implied that I must have been educated by my husband because of his depth of knowledge on the subject of law and politics. *Insert eye roll here -- a fact is a damn fact no matter who says it.* Ridiculous as it is, the tone of the comment was familiar.  I've been told before, especially by people I love, that I must be a Democratic sympathizer because of my husband's influence on me. Admittedly, I am in a unique position in that my husband is both a Constitutional law scholar and lawyer.  I have learned a great deal from him, and I would be a liar if I said he didn't influence me, because, see above, we are all products of our environment, and I live with the guy.  What I cannot shake is how when I stood up for myself, I was instantly undercut, disbelieved, mitigated because oh those sound like Eric's ideas.  Tale as old as time though, right?  Just ask the ladies from Luke's Gospel.

Now, just as a little thought exercise, indulge me in this scenario:  I am a graduate of the College of Letters and Science from the University of Wisconsin, where I majored in English and Theatre.  I was professionally employed in the entertainment industry.  Can you image a world in which all of Eric's opinions on literature, theatre, and film were attributed TO ME?!  That would be preposterous.  We all know he can take in information, synthesize, analyze, and reach conclusions about it.  Wouldn't it be nice if the same were believed about me?

After these conversations, after my blood had returned from 212 degrees Fahrenheit, I did what women always do, I rationalized my anger away:  How could I have done this differently to avoid confrontation or making him uncomfortable? Am I making too big a deal about this? Probably best chill out, move on, it's not worth it.  Except it IS worth it. It has to be worth it.  If I don't even get to claim my thoughts and ideas as my own, what do I have left?

Today, on election day the stakes are too damn high for me to keep quiet.  Our planet is 10 years away from LITERALLY MELTING.  My daughters run the risk of growing up in a culture that rejoices in misogynistic, sexist, racist behavior.  They could be shot and killed AT SCHOOL. AT SCHOOL!  There are children trapped in cages in the dessert, some without their parents, because they were taken across an imaginary line. The time we are living in is not politics as usual.  I'm old enough to know that, and I am reminded of this quote from Martin Luther King, "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice."



So to those of you who have ever been silenced, undercut, or not taken seriously: today is your chance to speak up in the most powerful way possible. VOTE.  As much as I want to rage about the patriarchy, the racism, the misogyny, I know the best way to take action against it is to vote.  Get out there and speak your mind at the polls. Encourage others to do the same.   Do it for yourselves, for Grace and Elle, and for Mary, Mary Magdalene and Joanna.  It's about damn time we are taken seriously.