[Day 8] Politics & Voting
One hundred and sixty one years ago, a group of women and men drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, stating that "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman..." Their immediate goal of equal voting rights for women in the United States has long since been met, but this statement still rings with a tragic amount of truth.
Three years ago, when rageprufrock first began the project that would grow into 14 valentines, she spoke about how women are praised and worshiped, torn down and degraded. We live in a world where our bodies are revered for the ability to give life and derided for leaving behind the appearance of adolescence, where we can rise to the highest offices of power in some countries and are deprived of basic rights in others.
We are told to be strong, to stand up for ourselves, told that we can do anything, be anything - but only to a point, always to a point.
Around the world, women die from lack of basic medical attention, from infanticide, from starvation beyond their control, from starvation inflicted upon themselves in a twisted attempt to be beautiful. We are beaten, raped, murdered, told in so many horrifying ways that we are lesser that we don't matter.
Forty years ago we declared that Sisterhood is Powerful, and it still is. We must remember that, must continue moving forward.
It's 2009 and we've come so far, but there is still more work to be done. We deserve better, and we can do more. We're strong. The next fourteen days is meant to remind us of that. It's our time to take back our bodies.
V can stand for vagina, like Eve Ensler's groundbreaking monologues. V can stand for violence, under whose auspices all women continue to make a home.
V can also stand for victory.
Politics & Voting
Being political isn’t simply about voting. Being a part of any participatory political system is never just about casting ballots, though that is an important step in most societies.
In the United States, we have recently made some pretty enormous changes in the makeup of our governing body. We have elected the first African-American president in US history, we have a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate and a Democratic president for the first time in more than a decade. We have also passed Proposition 8 in California, once again proving that homophobic legislation will almost always pass, limiting our recognition of queer people and families. We fell victim to the progressive wars of race vs. gender, of pitting some of the most disadvantaged voters against others.
Not all of these changes in the last few months have been progressive changes.
More importantly, none of these changes in policy guarantees change. Yes, President Obama has called lifted the global gag rule, a US foreign policy that refused funding to any agencies overseas that even discussed abortion as a reproductive choice, thus forcing the policy preferences of a few upon some of the most impoverished people in the world, most of them women and children.
However, the US Supreme Court is eroding reproductive freedoms every time a case comes before it. We live with a legacy of welfare reform that has trapped women and children, primarily women and children of color, and with a likely future where elderly people cannot count on state support.
We still don’t have universal health care.
Now that the largest turnout in decades has voted our candidates into office, do we sit back and let the powers that be govern?
A project called 52 Letters says no. This community calls upon members to commit to writing to our elected officials once a week. These do not have to be to the president or to a US Senator - they can be to the Board of Education or your fire chief. A tremendous number of decisions occur in the United States at the state and local levels and, often, voices are heard less and can impact more at these levels.
52letters invites you to join. Don’t let your elected officials forget that you are here, that you are paying attention, and that it is the people they work for. Make your voice heard more than once every four years. Let’s try once a week.
[Today's essay is courtesy of belladonnalin]