Dear Media: ABC I Have Snap Judgment for You and Whoopi Goldberg

Yeah? You know what Whoopi (and all producers of The View)? Your show is supposed to be a place for women to come together and hear perspectives of other women. Regardless of whether or not one identifies as a feminist, a community for women should certainly not be perpetuating patriarchy. Whoopi's comments and blind support of Cosby are so extreme and unsettling that its comparable to those in society who demand that President Obama is a Muslim terrorist because they haven't yet been given enough evidence to support the idea that he isn't. What evidence do you think you are going to get these many years later, Whoop? Do you think we might be able to find some DNA from a hotel room in 1967? Do you think the rapist has a video library someone might be able to dig up? Will you need 100 more women to come forward and give similar testimonies? I am disgusted by this blatant disregard for the rights of women and compel those who run The View to sincerely consider the voice you are sending to American women and the voices her big mouth has managed to already force off of the show because she is such a bully (ehem...Ive been paying attention and I am not the only one).

Whenever I have an opportunity to put someone in their place about 'supposed' domestic violence allegations, I gladly take it. I will always do the same for rape, too, Whoopi Goldberg. It is curious that these are the laws, both overwhelmingly perpetrated against women, which are acceptable to question the validity of. Just by questioning allegations, one not only negates the victim, her trauma and her safety, but also perpetuates the societal norm which implies that women aren't trustworthy and any violations against them will require extensive scrutiny whenever reported.

It pisses me off  whenever I have to deal with anyone who contends that we do not live in a patriarchal society. One literally has to forego reality to sincerely believe that. For nearly 100 years we have been unable to find 2/3 of states to ratify the ERA and one of our two major political parties is still working tirelessly to take our rights away as if our capacity to decide what to do with our bodies and how to manage our own families is just too much for us to be entrusted with.

In America it has always been acceptable, and even encouraged, to promote women as sexual objects, but at the same time it has always been absolutely unseemly and disgraceful for a woman to explore and express her own sexuality. Such was the case when Lisa Bonet, the actress who portrayed Bill Cosby character, Dr. Huxtable's daughter, Denise on The Cosby Show in the late 80s. I remember when he came out and publicly condemned her for having been in a movie called Angel Heart and doing a sex scene, but I wasn't old enough to see it in the theater at the time. I remember thinking it sounded like she made a porno by the way Cosby made it sound and was disappointed because she was my favorite of all of the Cosby kids as I identified with her free-spirit. I was too young to understand that I was in a patriarchal society, but Cosby wasn't, and neither was Whoopi Goldberg. That should've given her a clue about his ideas about women.

It is unbelievable to me that ABC is giving us a woman's voice that is willfully diminishing the place of women in our society instead of promoting us. ABC has had plenty of allegations of promoting contempt toward women in the past with lawsuits filed for discrimination in hiring and creating shows to display women as they 'truly' are: fighting over men and looking ridiculous on The Bachelor, back in the days of their understood and accepted subjugation on The Astronaut Wives Club and being backstabbing little minxes on Mistresses. Well done, ABC. Maybe you should just come out now and endorse every Regressive Party candidate running for any office anywhere. Its quite obvious your opinions of women coincide.

Give Me Liberty, Thanks

It is so refreshing to see that todays young women are having an awakening and finding their own voices and still demanding equality. This generation was said to be growing up to be selfish and narrow minded. As a middle aged woman who is aware of the struggles of the suffrage movement and knows of the fights still needing to go on, I am elated to see that the torch is still being carried. As a mother of a young woman of this blossoming generation, I kind of feel a maternal pride for the young women who were going to the New York Young Women's Conference this weekend and I was looking forward to hearing about it. So, without thinking, I went to see if any of them had posted about their experiences when I saw it was a trending topic on Twitter. Yeah...

I have little patience for people who are small minded and nasty. I think I have made that abundantly clear by now. I have always been curious about the people who look around this whole wide world, see the things that are wrong with it, can find nothing that is really appalling enough to fight for and then find a cause that speaks to them, which happens to be a non-cause. They make things up to be upset about because something offends them at such a personal level that they, pretty much, lose their shit. I ran into some of them immediately in the trending feed and they challenged me, men and women, to give them just one right that women don't have. I'll do you one better. How about I give you just one right that women DO have?

I will only give a brief synopsis here, though, because those looking to believe feminism is a joke will not be swayed. They are too desperate to hold on to their belief in their own superiority.

The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) passed to be a Constitutional Amendment back in the 20s and it said that no laws could be denied to anyone because of their gender. It was never ratified by enough states. For decades women tried to get it passed but were never able to get the necessary number of states to ratify it. So, now, in 2015, we still do not have an Equal Rights Amendment. And the only right that is guaranteed to women under the Constitution is the right to vote.

But, whatever ...

As it turns out, there is a gentleman who is having quite a fit about feminism on Twitter. His user name is (get ready for it) MensHumanRights. Yeah. He thinks it is wrong for women to be fighting for equality. He wants me to tell him about which rights women lack. I don't know. If I take the time to do it will you send me a meme and call me an ugly name (like "twat," which he has already used today)? He is, of course, a moron. But he chooses to be. Its hardly my problem. He is intimidated by women. I don't know what awful childhood he endured at the hands of women or if his father sincerely hated women and just passed it on to him. But what I do know is we live in 2015. And there are a myriad of issues on the agenda this weekend for these amazing young ladies that he would know nothing about because he is small minded and still gets a hard on whenever he hears the term FemiNazi.

What is worse than the men who condemn women for demanding equality? The women who proudly scream "Im not a feminist! Feminism is stupid. Men and women need to all be equal." Right, because the feminist movement is about finding superiority over men. They might just as well be screaming, "Look at me! I need attention! See? I'm cool! I think feminism is stupid, too."

So what is this movement and why are little men so afraid of it? And why are women who are insecure and begging for attention so desperate to run from it? It is a movement that seeks to create an equal, safer world for women. This movement is passionate about women having the same Constitutional rights as men. Pretty rough shit, huh? Whiners. Shut up and be happy we let you vote.

But do you know what the worst part of the movement is for these insecure men?  Its about choice. They are so pissed off at the idea that a woman should be allowed to have an abortion that they absolutely lose their minds. My personal theory is that there is something inherently offensive to the alpha-male about the fact that not only do women give life, but they have the chance to take it, as well. "That is a power only God should have. No woman should have it. We men are supposed to be superior to women and that is in complete contradiction to my theory."  To fight a woman's right to choose they define themselves as "pro-life." Of course, choice is not about life. Choice is just about that. Choice. And men with small minds (and, I assume, other small parts) cannot allow a woman to have that power. That power should only be in the hands of God. Or a man.

I expect some men to get upset about feminism. There will always be a handful of immature men who have not evolved who are completely intimidated by the movement and sit around fearing that whites will eventually be a minority and immigrants are stealing their jobs and gays getting married are ruining their marriages and women want to have equal rights. They like to have things to complain about and people to blame their lot in life on. That's fine. But the women? That is truly a shame. What is running through their minds? "I'm so proud to say I'm not a feminist. I don't want equality. I have my right to vote, what else do I need? And you know what? If those women in the middle east don't want to get their heads cut off for an accusation of adultery, then they shouldn't cheat. And the countries in the world where girls don't get an education? Too bad. Their parents should've moved somewhere else. What do I care? I can really only be bothered to think about a handful of things at a time and, presently, Kim Kardashian is posting pictures of her new hair cut and Kendrick Lamar has a new download. So I'm not a feminist and any one who says they are a feminist is stupid."

Yep. That was shitty of me. But that is how I see you. How dare you allow people to dismiss a movement that is so obviously trying to guarantee your rights and those of American women and women all around the world? You don't have to go to the rallies and sign the petitions, but to talk shit about the people who do? Honestly, you really should check yourself.

The feminist movement is about a lot of things that are still unequal in society. Not only are they still fighting for abortions, to be allowed to have a medical procedure on their bodies (In America. In 2015), but the feminist movement is also concerned about the human trafficking epidemic in America that seems to be tolerated by so many. The movement is trying desperately to find resolution to the profound backlog of rape kits across America. The funding for this has been made available (and many states have misappropriated) ever since a national database was available to track DNA. Most states have a 7 year statue of limitations on prosecution for rape. Every year that passes with nothing being done, more rapists go free and more women live in fear for their rapists having never been convicted. The movement is concerned about violence against women and against women on college campuses. And the movement is out fighting for LGBT rights, too (yep, fighting for equality for men!).

Thankfully, as the feminist movement is moving forward and the younger generation is coming to understand its importance, so are the men. I remember when I was a young mother and I went to my first NOW convention. I saw a feminist quote from Alan Alda. I thought that was about the coolest thing ever. It was a while before I found out that feminist men were really a thing. Now, even if most men don't identify as a feminist, the majority would think someone who belittled a woman for being one would be an asshole. So, I think we're getting there.



UPDATE: of all of the pieces I've written in attempts to really make people think, this has created the most controversy by both men and women who insisted what I said about women's Constitutional rights was a lie. Yes, it is funny that many people will drop an easy three letter word instead of research something, but willful ignorance does require both a lack of curiosity and resourcefulness.

Having said that, please follow:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/04/09/south_carolina_we_can_discriminate_against_women_so_why_not_gays.html