The Wars Against Women & the Pushback!

The following is from the trailer for a new movie starring Viola Davis called the Woman King, which is based on true events from the 19^th Century:

“The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar®-winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Some things are worth fighting for…”

(An all-female African fighting force defended what they held dear. Cheers!)

I have not seen the movie, but I agree with the premise here. Now, there are many things worth fighting for to maintain the way of life that many women have long held dear. Even today, our very democracy is under threat from would-be American autocrats! Where do I even enumerate the issues at hand today? The United States, the home of the free and the brave, has not been brave enough to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in over fifty years. And, no, the need for it has not been outgrown by the bits and pieces of change that we have seen!

We are seeing marchers protesting in the streets today in Iran and beyond because an Iranian morality police contingent arrested and beat a young Kurdish woman, fracturing her skull because she did not cover her hair sufficiently. She died because of this arrest and beating. Women in Iran are risking arrest as they protest; some are discarding their head coverings or hijab and cutting their hair. The religious authorities require strict adherence to their interpretations of religious law and demand that women wear head coverings and long knee-length wraps and long garments or pants to their ankles. Women may show only their hands, feet, and faces; they expect men to wear long-sleeved shirts and full trousers. If visiting religious sites, women are expected to wear full body coverings called chador. As also seen in Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, where women are frequently even more restricted by a burqa with a face covering and required to be accompanied by a male when leaving their homes, women are increasingly being restrained from having a public presence.

Education has liberated women in both countries and others, such as Saudi Arabia, yet even as they are no longer hidden in harems, or uneducated, they seldom have voices under today’s regimes. The regime of Mohammed bin Salman, (MBS) gave two women in Saudi Arabia who protested and used Twitter accounts, sentences of many years for “fomenting treason or lies against the state.” Once the dictatorships fell in Afghanistan and Iraq, they elected women to serve in seats in the government; many returned from exile to serve in ministries. But, now, as leadership changes again, these gains are lost and women and girls are again constrained. Despite promises, the Taliban are refusing to educate girls or women above middle school ages.

In India, once called the world’s largest democracy, educated women are a major part of the workforce of scientists, IT, and medical professionals. But, as we have seen, even these women are not safe on the streets alone and the government does not arrest or punish rapists appropriately. But, in the greater rural populations, women who are uneducated or poor are at the mercy of their husbands and seldom have any protection if they lose their husbands or if they are abusers.

However, movements in Afghanistan help women by holding secret schools in homes within homes and with the hopes that, soon if girls can return to school, they will be ready. The micro bank loan (Women's Microfinance Initiative, WMI) movements are helping women in several East African countries (for example, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania), many of whom are widows, to earn some cash. The profit from small industries such as making charcoal, growing small gardens or financing a simple home helps create stable communities.

Back home in the United States, by comparison, women have it pretty well; they do not jail us for legal protests nor for driving a car alone. However, we have other issues. If you do not believe that the actions against abortion access and contraception choices are part of the wars against women, you need to review recent news. They are part of the continued attempts to control women’s bodies. Read on. 

The right to equal pay for equal work is still a dream for many women. Conservative leaders are fighting subsidies for daycare because they want women to stay home - hello! That should be my choice as a mother, not some guy somewhere counting beans! The pandemic showed us that as daycare options disappeared, so did many women from the workforce, because often the jobs they held rarely allowed remote work. Even when teachers could teach remotely, they could not care for small children at the same time. Nurses who worked in hospitals also could not do their jobs off-site; many quit because they did not wish to endanger their families at the height of the pandemic before COVID vaccines were an option. Studies have shown that professional women who could work from home, more often kept their jobs, while service workers, often minorities, lost theirs. When jobs returned, day cares often did not or their fees were so high, working women could not afford them, so they left the workforce, and frequently, their families suffered.

And, more recently, the right has won on the issue of restricting a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body. The conservatives claim that the state has a right to protect an unborn child, as they define it, sometimes, from conception onward. In some states, the authorities are criminalizing abortion both for the patient and the provider. Some states have already jailed women for miscarriages if they were abusing drugs during their pregnancy. Since the Supreme Court formalized the Dobbs decision in June, several states have adopted trigger laws that had been waiting for this result. Clinics closed in many of these states, while pro-choice states are rushing to provide access. Some students who accepted placements at colleges in the deep south stated they may revisit their school choices and select more abortion-friendly states.

In the meantime, there have been tales of horror, as women with ectopic pregnancies or bleeding miscarriages have had to wait for legal opinions before they could have surgery. Some conservatives have testified on their beliefs that ectopic pregnancies can survive to term in the abdomen. According to the Mayo Clinic, an ectopic or tubal pregnancy cannot survive and must be treated as an emergency. There have been rare reports of implantations elsewhere in the abdomen that survived, but one in the tube will rupture if not surgically treated. The State of Texas has refused to allow any medical reports showing pregnancy abnormalities or deaths occasioned by its anti-abortion 6-week law to be released until after the next legislative session – and well after the mid-terms! Women will note this absence.

538 polled on this issue and even did a special column on abortion and minority voters. It found that this issue crossed party lines and was not a partisan issue. Black voters favored abortion rights more (78%) so than other groups, but all minorities were in favor, while whites came in at only 49% favorable. In July polling, they reported that most Americans favored abortion rights and contraceptive access. Among the 1500 adults surveyed, the topic was fourth, with 19% reporting it was their highest concern. They did not state the male/female breakdown on this issue, but I think women are more supportive than men. As reported by Gallup, 68% of women support abortion rights, while only 48% of men do in polling across the years. I think Democrats believe this is a strong issue for them for the mid-terms; I certainly hope that women will stand up, speak out, and vote!

Democrats have won some special elections that they were not expected to win, primarily on the issue of the right to choose. Most recently, they elected a Democrat in red-state Alaska, over former VP candidate, Sarah Palin, in an instant run-off race. She will have to face the same opponents in the regular election in November. Mary Peltola made history as the first Alaskan Indigenous native to be elected to serve in Congress. (Currently, according to NPR, six Indigenous natives are serving in Congress, one from Hawaii, one from Alaska, and four Native Americans, for the highest number ever in that body.)

So, where do women go from here? Thirty years ago, 1992 was considered the Year of the Woman as many women achieved elected office for the first time. Eleven women were elected to the Senate and 108 were seated in the House that year. Today there are 24 women in the Senate (16 Dems, 8 Rep) and 123 serving in the House, of which 91 are Democrats and 32 are Republicans. With those numbers, 147 women serving out of 535 total seats, one can see that we have quite a way to go to achieve parity. It is time for women to step up and vote for women who support women and their issues. We do not need stupid persons serving such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Marcia Blackburn, or Lauren Bobert; they do women's issues no good. Blackburn, especially, should not serve because of her treatment of Judge Jackson at her hearing. And Greene, with her support of the MAGA, white supremacists, and QAnon groups, does no woman any favors. And then we have Senator Sinema – who knows where she will go?

As Emily’s list says, when women vote, women win! Please vote in the midterms! In many places, women have no voices – we have the right to vote, let’s use it! Election Day is November 8^th, just around the corner!

‘Til next week-Peace!