Thank you for your words. I wholeheartedly agree. I'm tired. I'm burnt out. We had the first four years, which ended with a pandemic, then fighting to get him out during the continued pandemic, an insurrection, finally what seemed like a reprieve where we could breathe again. Then I got breast cancer. I'm a two-year survivor, but it takes a toll. Then, he comes back again (like we knew he would) and we thought we could do it. I thought we could do it. But, misogyny, racism and misinformation win again. I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I'm sad and scared. If they dismantle the ACA and my cancer comes back, I'm screwed because we won't be able to pay for private insurance as it stands now (my husband and I both run small businesses). We have a lot of friends who are queer, trans, minorities, etc. What does this mean for them? What does this mean for me as a woman?
When the time comes, I'll strap on my boxing gloves and fight, but right now, I'm still grieving the loss and scared of this seemingly never-ending tunnel we're staring down.
Thank you...I needed your words so badly today. The last few days has been devastating, and I have been struggling with trying to reconcile what has happened. Finding out that we really aren't better than this was akin to a right hook to the jaw. It has helped to hear that I am not alone. I will endeavor to shift my perspective a degree or two so that I can take the first steps in making my own small improvements.
This is the best piece I’ve read. I have been with you for so long! Since you wrote Good in Bed. Your words are helping me sift through this. I’m the same age as you and I think it takes a little wisdom to accept some of the hard truths of where we’re at in America. It’s weird though, reading this, I had such acceptance to things we don’t want to admit out loud. Thank you for writing it and sharing. Besides being a skilled, beautiful writer, you are a generous soul. 💙😊
I kept waiting for Georgia or Michigan or good old much-loved PA to say, "Wait. We did vote for Kamala." They did not. But something else happened: john a powell, in Berkeley sent an email saying that we are needed. After we take some time to grieve, after we've gathered up the broken shards of our hearts, we are the people that can together bend that arc toward fairness. And I got an email from Sheila Davis of Partners in Health, who suffered the terrible loss of Dr. Paul Farmer as well as the loss of Harris as our first female president. Dr. Davis sent an email saying this:
1. Action is the antidote to despair.
2. Bending the arc toward justice forbids us the luxury of being pessimistic on behalf of those who cannot afford to lose hope.
I'm so glad we are in this together, we who need the stories, ready to keep moving toward a more just world. xoxoxxo
The sad truth is that misogyny is rampant among women - every woman who doesn't have faith in female doctors, who loath women in positions of power and leaders in industry, who always seek out a man's permission to make any important decisions, who look down on other women who may choose to be single or child free, and those who only feel whole when they "have a man." For every woman who believes that sexual assault isn't possible in marriage or in a sexual relationship because men have needs, and it's a woman's responsibility to fulfill them whenever.
Now that we've pulled up the rug and can see everything that's been hiding underneath, ladies, we have work to do.
Thank you for your words. I wholeheartedly agree. I'm tired. I'm burnt out. We had the first four years, which ended with a pandemic, then fighting to get him out during the continued pandemic, an insurrection, finally what seemed like a reprieve where we could breathe again. Then I got breast cancer. I'm a two-year survivor, but it takes a toll. Then, he comes back again (like we knew he would) and we thought we could do it. I thought we could do it. But, misogyny, racism and misinformation win again. I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I'm sad and scared. If they dismantle the ACA and my cancer comes back, I'm screwed because we won't be able to pay for private insurance as it stands now (my husband and I both run small businesses). We have a lot of friends who are queer, trans, minorities, etc. What does this mean for them? What does this mean for me as a woman?
When the time comes, I'll strap on my boxing gloves and fight, but right now, I'm still grieving the loss and scared of this seemingly never-ending tunnel we're staring down.
Thank you...I needed your words so badly today. The last few days has been devastating, and I have been struggling with trying to reconcile what has happened. Finding out that we really aren't better than this was akin to a right hook to the jaw. It has helped to hear that I am not alone. I will endeavor to shift my perspective a degree or two so that I can take the first steps in making my own small improvements.
This is the best piece I’ve read. I have been with you for so long! Since you wrote Good in Bed. Your words are helping me sift through this. I’m the same age as you and I think it takes a little wisdom to accept some of the hard truths of where we’re at in America. It’s weird though, reading this, I had such acceptance to things we don’t want to admit out loud. Thank you for writing it and sharing. Besides being a skilled, beautiful writer, you are a generous soul. 💙😊
I kept waiting for Georgia or Michigan or good old much-loved PA to say, "Wait. We did vote for Kamala." They did not. But something else happened: john a powell, in Berkeley sent an email saying that we are needed. After we take some time to grieve, after we've gathered up the broken shards of our hearts, we are the people that can together bend that arc toward fairness. And I got an email from Sheila Davis of Partners in Health, who suffered the terrible loss of Dr. Paul Farmer as well as the loss of Harris as our first female president. Dr. Davis sent an email saying this:
1. Action is the antidote to despair.
2. Bending the arc toward justice forbids us the luxury of being pessimistic on behalf of those who cannot afford to lose hope.
I'm so glad we are in this together, we who need the stories, ready to keep moving toward a more just world. xoxoxxo
Also, I love "It's a tree day." Here's to many tree days to come.
The sad truth is that misogyny is rampant among women - every woman who doesn't have faith in female doctors, who loath women in positions of power and leaders in industry, who always seek out a man's permission to make any important decisions, who look down on other women who may choose to be single or child free, and those who only feel whole when they "have a man." For every woman who believes that sexual assault isn't possible in marriage or in a sexual relationship because men have needs, and it's a woman's responsibility to fulfill them whenever.
Now that we've pulled up the rug and can see everything that's been hiding underneath, ladies, we have work to do.