The Scarlet Letter.
Do I vote?
You bet your sweet ass I do. My grandmother was born when women didn’t have the right and she (and my mother) instilled its importance in me long before I was of age.
I have a hard time understanding people who don’t vote. Sure, one voice may not matter much, but I don’t vote because it matters. That’s looking at it from a selfish perspective, in my opinion. I don’t vote for external gratification. Hell, I don’t even wear that little “I Voted” sticker they give out.
I vote to let those in charge know I’m paying attention.
I also give money where I can to causes in which I believe, so I’m like the government’s worst nightmare – a fiscally responsible, independent, socially progressive, well-informed female voter. This is why I’m particularly liking A is For…, an organization started by Martha Plimpton (actress and activist), Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show), and others who see the rights of women under attack of late.
From the website:
A is For is a campaign challenging the traditional meaning of the scarlet letter by encouraging women, and the men who support them, to wear the A proudly. We are taking back the A by re-appropriating its meaning to one of dignity, defiance, and autonomy.
If every last voting-age woman in this country showed up at the polls this November, can you imagine how terrified Washington would be? Especially if we all showed up wearing a big, red “A”?
What say we find out … ? I mean it’s only our rights to our own medical decisions, freedom from the religious tyranny of those who try and try to put the reproductive rights genie back in the bottle, and the entire future for generations of women at stake.
Time we put on our big-girl panties and acted like it, doncha think?
“A” is for angry. “A” is for autonomy. “A” is for active.
“A” is for alive.