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#why are americans complaining about abortion just protest and fix it
haywirecompass · 2 years
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whoever the fuck i saw saying "i can't stand english bitching because they're so complacent" and whoever else thinks we're not doing enough i'd like to invite you to DO SOME FUCKING RESEARCH.
a law was recently passed that deemed any kind of protesting as disruptive and able to be punished by the police, alongside giving the police more power.
we all watched the police storm the PEACEFUL VIGIL for sarah everard - a woman raped and murdered by a police officer.
PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY BEING ARRESTED FOR OUTWARDLY EXPRESSING ANY SORT OF DISPLEASURE WITH THE MONARCHY.
A WOMAN WAS ARRESTED FOR HOLDING UP A SIGN. JUST HOLDING IT.
PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED FOR BOOING.
everything in britain has been put to a standstill. hospital appointments have been cancelled. funerals have been cancelled. we can't do anything about it.
many of us will be unable to pay our energy bills this winter. we will freeze. we will starve.
it has been demonstrated to us time and time and time again that protests simply make people talk about how we were protesting and never why. and now the police has increased power to punish us for any public opinion that they don't like.
we have been under tory rule for 12 years. 12 years of the same people - hey americans, can you imagine that?
we are tired, no, we are exhausted. we are struggling. we are scared. and it has been made clear to us that our government does not care.
so fucking forgive us if we're putting our own survival over the opinions of americans (and other non-brits but americans are the worst) online who expect us to learn everything about their politics and their country and don't put in an ounce of effort to learn about ours.
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amyashida · 7 years
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I Cheered, I Cried, I Argued, and I Learned
Things that I did this week:
1. I went to the Women's March in NYC. I didn't march, but I went and I watched and I took pictures and soaked it in. I haven't taken the time to sit down and sift through what it meant to me - so that's part of what I am doing now.
2. I got into it on Facebook about the Women's March - which eventually lead to a back and forth about abortion and the foster care system. That discussion brought so many things up for me, I think I could write a book on it.
3. I read about Trump's executive actions that affect women and children both domestically and abroad in areas ranging from abortion to immigration laws.
4. I read "The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems" by Courtney Martin. This helped me think through #2.
Things that I learned this week:
1. I still don't like crowds but I'm not scared of marches (as long as I have a getaway plan).   Going to the Women's March was inspiring. After writing my post on inauguration day I realized that I had to go. It had been weeks of debating whether or not to do it and I knew marching wasn't for me, but there was something inside of me that had to be there. I borrowed an awesome camera from school and Eric (my husband and I) rode our bikes up from Brooklyn to 2nd and 45th, right around where the rally before the march was supposed to be. When we got there we found that police had already blocked off the streets and were setting up metal barricades for the marchers and onlookers. People were walking by with signs and gathering waiting for the march to begin. It took a while for it to start, but we ended up being in the perfect place to watch and cheer on the marchers.
Before we arrived I felt nervous, but as soon as we were there and I pulled out the camera I felt comfortable and excited. The march was lead by an all-female drum line. As the beats of the drums started from a block or two away I got goose bumps and as the first wave of protesters marched past us I felt my chest warm and wiped away a few tears. It was magical. There was a sense that we were in the middle of a historic moment. Energy and spirits were high - marchers invited everyone watching to come join - cheers erupted - celebratory drum beats filled the air. It didn't feel at all like the protest that I had watched just two months before. Sure, people were there because they were scared and angry, but they were also there to come together and show support for one another. It was magical and I learned that I could be there and be part of the movement in a way that was true to me.
2. Feminism is really, really fragmented and while that is OK it is also really frustrating. Ok, I didn't learn this over the past week, but it became more apparent to me. There was a lot of controversy about the march because originally the organizers had said that pro-life women and groups were not welcome to join. That seems to be one of the biggest divides. The movement also naturally fractures around favored issues. For example, some women are way more passionate about healthcare access than they are about equal pay. That's natural. The most disturbing divide that I am becoming more and more aware of is the one between class and race.
Now I cannot claim innocence here as I am definitely guilty of not physically showing up until now, but I couldn't help but notice the make up of the crowd. Let's just say it looked a lot different from the crowds I've seen depicted at Black Lives Matter and other civil rights related marches. I'm not sure if it's just because Trump is so abrasive, but suddenly a lot of people showed up. It wasn't just me though, a lot of my friends who are women of color commented on it. I am curious to see how that translates to impact in ways after the march, but personally I think it is a good thing. The fact that so many people were activated is promising that over the next few years at least some of them (including myself) will stay involved.
3. People who are far away from problems think that they aren't there and aren't worth fixing. This is maddening to me. Every time I see a post apologizing on behalf of American women to the women of the international community who have it worse I feel like I want to smash something, throw it across the wall, and then smash it again. Some one responded to me putting forth my experience at the march by saying that it was a shame that so many were complaining about life in America when women in other countries don't have the same rights. WTF. That's like telling someone who got raped that they don't have anything to complain about because of all of the people who get raped and murdered. Sure, it makes you aware that you are better off than others, but it doesn't make the problem any less legitimate. Also, why are you shaming me for caring about the problems we have here at home? You are the ones cheering on Donald Trump as he puts a global gag order on providing aid to women's health organizations around the world.
Reading "The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems" by Courtney Martin put another spin on this lesson for me. Saying things like, "go solve other people's problems" sounds like it comes from a place of caring and empathy, but it's really from a place of naive hubris. When we try to go fix other people's problems we often do so in an incredibly uninformed and insensitive way. We try to inflict our views of the way things should be without actually listening and learning from those we hope to help.  
4. I haven't learned how to calm myself down. As I get deeper into what these issues mean to me I've also had a harder time disconnecting with them. This is good, because I allow myself to dig in, but bad because I get really worked up and have a hard time disengaging. I don't want to be the angry feminist all the time. I don't want to constantly get into fights on Facebook. I want to make a tangible difference in the way women are treated in my community and in the way women view themselves in my community. If I am going to stay sane (and not drive my family crazy) I am going to have to find a better balance.
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