Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The mainstream media will be all over this Saturday’s “Women’s March” which is expected to bring thousands of women to Washington DC who intend to tell the new Trump Administration what women really want – but they don’t speak for me and here’s what I intend to do about it.
For those who are unfamiliar with the March, the idea was born on Election Day when Donald J. Trump was elected to be the 45th president of the United States. As some news outlets reported, “On Nov. 8, America elected a sexual predator to the presidency.” (Notice how they don’t mention that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, was married to a known sexual predator and blamed his victims for his crimes.) Feeding on this and other examples of biased reporting, a group of activists decided to stage a protest march on Washington on January, 21, the day after the presidential inauguration.
The leaders of this march, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Linda Sarsour are all veteran activists who are promoting an unapologetically progressive platform containing the usual feminist topics such as the Equal Rights Amendment, equal pay, paid family leave and an end to violence against women. It’s also taking up other causes that include Black Lives Matter and “marriage equality.” Gloria Steinem, Planned Parenthood and NARAL have all signed on to the March as well as the NAACP.
But the overarching goal of the march is to demonstrate to the new administration that “women’s rights are human rights” and that “defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.” And so they’re calling on “all defenders of human rights to join us”
“Sounds great!” writes law professor Helen Alvare of Women Speak for Themselves (WSFT). “Except Planned Parenthood, and NARAL Pro-Choice America are ‘partnering’ with the March. Abortion? A ‘pro-woman’ issue? Has nearly 50 years of women-led pro-life activism, post-abortion ministry and crisis pregnancy centers taught them nothing?”
Apparently not.
As Alvare points out, the March is also planning to get a bit ugly about sex.
“As you read this, attendees are busily knitting ‘pussy hats’ (yes, you read that correctly) to wear to the march, in order to ‘reclaim’ this reference to the female sexual organs as a ‘means of empowerment’.”
Even though women who stand for human rights for all – including the unborn – are planning to March on Washington one week later, we mustn’t become complacent, Alvare warns.
“ . . . [T]he media will be all over the Women’s March and claim to ‘know’ what women really want. I think it’s really important, as WOMEN, that we make our voices heard while the media is busy looking for content.”
She offers a few suggestions for how we can speak out:
1) The New York Times is looking to hear from women about the March. Fill out their survey form! Tell them whether you are planning to go to the March, or even participate at home on social media.
2) Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. It doesn’t need to be complex, and feel free to steal language from this email. The point is to make sure people are aware that pro-life women have informed opinions on these issues too–especially if the media fails to represent the diversity of women on these issues!
3) Speak out on social media! Over the coming week, I’ll have a piece published and so will a few other WSFT members. We’ll be sharing them on our Facebook page, so watch for them, share them on your own page, quote from them and spread them around however possible!
Alvare also invites everyone to let WSFT know what efforts we are undertaking regarding Saturday’s Women’s March.
Be sure to use the hashtag #speak4yourself to let your voice be heard!
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