Women Are My Role Models
This post was published on January 24, 2017 on my old blog, samplesizedwriting.wordpress.com
It’s been almost 20 days since I wrote my first post. In that time, I’ve gone back to college for my second semester, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, my current favorite movie La La Land has won 7 Golden Globes and tied for the all-time record of 14 Oscar nominations, we’ve inaugurated what may be the last president of the United States, and the day after the inauguration more than one million women (and men and non-binary people!) marched in protest all around the world.
I’d just like to take a second and let that sink in. Over one million people! All around the world! There were marches on all seven continents including Antarctica. That’s right, even the few people in Antarctica showed support for this cause. And what is this cause, exactly? Equality.
Many conservatives and anti-feminists were quick to call this Women’s March “whining,” but how is an organized protest to this scale “whining”? It’s true, I am a liberal, and I 100% believe making Trump (gag) president of this country was a terrible injustice (who won the popular vote again, people?), and I would have absolutely marched in protest of just him, but this march was bigger than that. This march was in protest of Trump’s and his followers’ beliefs. This march was in protest of racists, sexists, misogynists, and right-wing extremists. This march was meant to show support for people of different races, genders, religions, and sexualities. This march was meant to show support for environmental protection, equal access to methods of birth control, the right for women to make decisions about their own bodies, and above all, the right to be equal. Trump, his political campaign, and (many of) his supporters seem to have a blatant disregard for literally all of the things I have just listed. This is what the Women’s March was about, and last I checked, the people of the United States still have the right to peacefully protest things they don’t agree with. That’s not “whining,” that’s a right as an American, and conservatives, you’ve used this right just as often as we liberals have. Did we call that “whining?” I certainly didn’t.
This march was mind-blowing. While it’s true that I’ve only been on this Earth for about 19 years, this is absolutely the largest and most unified protest I have ever witnessed. If so many people, including people who have really nothing to do with the USA, are concerned with the current state of our political affairs, shouldn’t we as citizens of this country be listening? A protest of this scale cannot and should not be ignored, even though Trump and his team are trying their hardest to do just that. Isn’t that concerning anybody? A protest of this magnitude being blatantly ignored by the Trump administration?
Before I sign off on this blog post, I just want to say that women are my role models. My older sister, whom I’ve always looked up to, attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. on January 21. This fact only makes me admire her more. I am also really happy to say that many friends that I’ve made over the years also attended the March, and I am so proud to know them. Some of my absolute favorite celebrities, including Emma Watson (whom I have wanted to be ever since I laid eyes on Hermione Granger and has become a feminist icon in my eyes), attended various marches across the world. Women were the ones who even arranged this large-scale protest! Everyone who even attended the March to show support have made me proud, but ladies who attended, I aspire to be you. You are strong and amazing and fight for what you believe in. This March stood for what true feminism is: equality for all. And to all those who think we don’t need feminism? The US is ranked 45th in the Global Gender Gap, behind countries like the UK, Rwanda, the Philippines, Burundi, and Jamaica. There’s work to be done, guys, and everybody who supported the Women’s March knows it. Do you?