danielleee1234

[danielleee1234]

On January 21st 2017,  the Women’s March was held in almost every city throughout the country. This march was to show awareness to the government, especially Donald Trump, that women’s rights are human rights and that they deserve to be treated just as equally as men and not have their rights taken away. People of all genders, ethnicities, and ages supported this march through out the country and without everyone’s support; it probably wouldn’t have been as big of a deal as it was, which was why it was such a huge deal for the country.

I interviewed Kelsey, a 19-year-old Marymount student who was among the thousands of participants who attended the Women’s March in Washington, DC. Straight away, I asked Kelsey why she participated in the march, “just supporting Planned Parenthood. We don’t think we need it, but when it comes down to a time where you need their help you need it. It doesn’t matter based on religion views or other views, as a group we need to protect something because if its gone were all out of luck.” Following up on what she meant by what we need from Planned Parenthood, she continued saying that “it’s not just abortion which a lot of people think it is. They do so much for homeless women and teenagers! It doesn’t matter skin color or if you’re wearing a hijab or not, they’re there to help us and I think that’s so important to have as a woman. Its almost like a safe haven and it pisses me off so fu*cking much that people in politics are trying to shut them down.”

Kelsey and I have been talking only for a few minutes about her reasons to attend the march, yet she clearly was getting riled up at the fact that people are against women’s rights without even clearly understanding that they want to take away and control women’s freedom. She told me she gets her birth control from PP and started going there for it when she was 17 years old because she didn’t feel comfortable asking her mom through her regular doctor. “I went in for not even thirty minutes, including paper work and the actual meeting, but my prescription lasted me a whole year so I only have to go in once a year. I luckily use my dad’s insurance too so I get it each month for free.”

To conclude our interview, I asked Kelsey what she hopes to happen with our new president’s decisions on things and how it could affect women, “I hate him obviously, he has no respect for women but hopefully because of this march and especially the marches in all the big cities like New York, Chicago and LA, he’ll see that so many people are against him and will do anything for equal rights and services. I’m more worried about Pence (Vice President, Mike Pence) and what he’ll try to tell Trump to do. He hates Planned Parenthood just because of the abortion factor but that barely is a part of the services! I’m going to be surprised by whatever happens though.”

For all the reasons the participants attended the Women’s March, clearly sticking with Planned Parenthood was a big reason on why many and especially Kelsey chose to support the event, they don’t want these health services to be taken away from them.

*The pictures are Kelsey’s friends holding signs by the Lincoln Memorial and signs in the crowd. Credit to Kelsey, Irene, and Mary Kay.*

Dresner, Kelsey, Irene O'Connor, and Mary O'Connor. 2017. Washington, DC.

Kelsey is a 19 year old college student at Marymount.