Wednesday Words

"Republicans only bother to acknowledge women when they’re reasserting our status as second-class citizens. Sure, they occasionally feign outrage over supposed attacks on stay-at-home moms (while nary a word of paid parental leave is spoken) and they trot out their wives to assure us how much their hubby respects women. But we know the truth—that this “respect” is conditional. It’s not based on a belief that women are deserving of human rights, but on a very specific set of rules and roles we are expected to adhere by.

Republicans can spin all they like, but what they don’t understand is that women can recognize dehumanization from a mile away. We live it every day. We know what it is to talk to a person and suddenly realize they believe us stupid because of our gender. We listen while people mansplain topics we’re experts in. We watch media that presents us as little more than masturbation fodder and walk down the street feeling lecherous stares on our back. We know what you mean when you say 'legitimate' rape. We know exactly what you’re thinking when you pretend to give a shit."

-Jessica Valenti, Fantasy Women of the GOP 

While this is specifically directed at Republicans, there are plenty of misogynists everywhere, in and out of politics. But right now it's the Republicans I feel threatened by. I cried when I read this article yesterday, my tears a mixture of anger, sadness, and fear. Especially with that last line: "We know exactly what you're thinking when you pretend to give a shit." They care about my uterus, but not me. They care about the life I could create, but not me. Unless you fit their myopic, cookie-cutter definition of a woman--which I certainly don't and can't think of any woman who does--it's all just pretending. Enough is enough.