Why do dudes think they have any claim to women’s rights in the United States?
I am in a cafe in Alabama and The Dudes Sitting Across From Me are two White, straight, cis dudes of means in their late 20s. They are discussing choice. Yes, choice. Women’s choice. I was hoping that they would be pro-choice because the cafe I am sitting in is pretty hip and progressive, but no – they are talking about how happy they are about the Alabama laws that have recently been passed to restrict abortion to 6 weeks. They want it to go farther and hope that abortion will be eradicated eventually. They look like two young dudes would, sitting at a table in a cafe, talking about the future of what women have the right to do with THEIR bodies. But they have thoughts on choice – something that has NOTHING to do with their own bodies. This surreal to me. How can their opinion mean anything at all?
Now don’t get me wrong – this is not a conversation you will solely hear in Alabama. I have been sitting in cafes in Buffalo, NY where I have heard dudes having similar conversations. The movement to take rights away from women is national – international even. Women have been consistently and constantly fighting for a little more power in the world while dudes are working to take those rights away.
The people that I take issue with, as much as the dudes, are the women who have stood, and will continue to stand, by these dudes even at their own detriment. The women who voted for Trump. The women who don’t believe other women should work outside the home. The women who think that women without children are horrible people. The women who see those of us who would choose to end a pregnancy as murderers, rather than women taking care of our bodies based on decisions we should be allowed to make for ourselves without state or federal intervention.
But let’s get back to the dudes. You may ask why The Dudes Sitting Across From Me believe they can STILL oppress us, even after 100 years of women having the right to vote. You may wonder why they think women of colour should have even fewer rights than white women. You may be confused about why dudes think that we as a civilization should continue on this patriarchal path. The answer is simple: fear. They are afraid because they can see that straight white dudes of means are quickly becoming a minority. So they gather and make their MRAesque plans for the future and devise schemes to keep the women down. A matriarchal society scares the shit out of them and they are doing everything they can to keep us from rising up as one.
And here is the key – women from all parts of this country need to stick together no matter our backgrounds or political affiliations. We need to vote as a bloc in this next election to oust the misogynist-in-chief from office so he can’t do 4 more years of damage to our FREE nation. We still haven’t seen full freedom for women and, most especially, freedom for women of colour and lgbtq+ women. If we don’t work to change the trajectory of the political system we will never see these freedoms. We will lose more and more freedoms steadily each day – eventually leading to that future dystopia people love to read and write about and watch on television, but don’t truly believe could happen.
If we are not careful it can happen. As evidenced by The Dudes Sitting Across From Me in this cafe, and sitting in cafes all across this nation, plotting the end of women’s rights. They may not frame it that way but that is EXACTLY what they are working on. They think it is for the best, but it is only the best for them. Straight, white, cis, dudes of means. That’s it. The rest of us can basically go scratch in their estimation. They want the world to serve them.
If the rest of us stick together and do our civic duty in 2020 by voting for the Democratic candidate, we can show them that we are not here to serve, but to live in peace and harmony with one another and, in the end, to lead. What The Dudes Sitting Across From Me don’t want you to know is that they are quickly becoming a minority and that scares them more than anything. They don’t understand that we won’t treat them the way they have treated us for 300+ years. We will be fair when we are in power. That is the difference between us and them.
So who are The Dudes Sitting Across From You? Do you want to show them that the world is made for all of us? Then join us! Make this country a better place. VOTE for the Dem in 2020 and take the country back. We can repair the damage done, but only if we rescue the nation from the brink of another 4 years of disastrous leadership. Together we can make things better and move forward in a positive and hopeful direction.
Peace and happy organizing!
Chantale aka hippiegrrl
Links to visit:
Kamala Harris for the People
Elizabeth Warren
Julian Castro
Pete Buttigieg
Cory Booker