A Little History for Young Women; and Men

A little history for young women--and men--who don't get why Hillary being a woman is a big deal.

We have a conservative movement that is trying to legislate women's bodies. And LGBTQ. And what we think and believe by restricting what teachers can say, what books we can read, and what news we hear.

We have a representative government--not a democracy. This is to protect the minority from shifting opinions. More than 50% of us are women, yet for the 1st time in history, we have a viable woman candidate of a major party.

And for those who think gender shouldn't matter, the fact that you can say that is testament to the women who have come before--women who have died so that we can be equal and vote.

Think I'm a little extreme? When I was born, contraception was illegal. When I was born, Jim Crow was the law of the land. When I was young, my aspirations were limited to nurse or teacher--not doctor or professor, but nurse or teacher. I got my first pair of pants when I was in 2nd grade. You try to climb trees and play fully in a dress. I watched my president get assassinated. I watched police use fire hoses on people. I watched Martin Luther King, Jr. speak and watched him get shot. And Bobby Kennedy. 

We have had to fight and die so that millenials and old, white men can tell us that gender doesn't matter and that it's our fault that things aren't better. Sorry, but after thousands of years of women as property and persons of color only 3/5 of an actual person we've come a long way, but still have a longer way to go. People who think that both parties equally bad, both candidates equally bad need to learn their history.