I don't know if some men might find some of this uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel like I should write a book titled My Loud Ass Opinion Made a Man Uncomfortable, and I Thought it was Funny: A Memoir.
I know I'm not alone in being tired of men, mostly white, cis-gender and heterosexual, and often incompetent men at that, leading this country, state, and so many other institutions. Sure, some of them are actually pretty great. Obama fit most of that description. I voted for him twice, and feel like he did a lot of good. What I get tired of in general, is the rampant institutionalized misogyny permeating not just the U.S., but the whole goddamn world, and the abuse that often comes with it. The #MeToo movement being such a recent phenomenon should tell you how difficult it has always been to speak up about the abuse, which is usually perpetrated by men against women, and it's far too rare for them to actually be held accountable. "He seems too nice. I can't imagine him doing that." "Boys will be boys. (especially powerful ones)." "What was she wearing?" "Was she drunk?" "Why was she walking around at night?" You could spend years reading shit where men are bashing the movement. They sure are threatened by it. Only internet porn is mildly more popular.
Women are paid less than men for the same work. We're expected to stay in the background, not be too loud, not take up too much space, support husbands, have babies, then prioritize those husbands and babies over any career ambitions we may have. That's legitimately the priority of some women. That's great, but it shouldn't be expected. And when a woman manages to have a great career AND take care of her family, it becomes this sort of obnoxious inspiration porn.
I'm also tired of powerful men constantly engaging in dick measuring contests with each other. I can't say for certain if having more women in power might reduce some of our senseless wars, but I'd like to take a shot at it.
I remember how excited I was when, no thanks to the red dump of a state I live in (though we did have Kendra Horn win a US House seat, and a small, but non-zero number of progressive women make local history, so maybe that's a good sign of things to come), I saw the news of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other women, several queer and of color being sworn in to the US House.
Representation matters. Of the entire time the US has existed, every President has been male, and with the one exception of Obama, white. I guess Trump is totally our first carrot colored President, but that's probably because he doesn't know how to properly use bronzer. No shame though. There are certainly a shit ton of far more important things to criticize that incompetent buffoon for. I can look at pictures of our government's leaders and and most corporate board members, and I end up seeing something that doesn't bear much resemblance to real life. You can Google this stuff. Just wear sun glasses. Always good to protect the eyes.
We're in a position now where record numbers of women, many of color and queer are running for higher office. The Democratic primary crowd is like a sea of women right now. If you claim you'd vote for a woman, and didn't vote for Hillary Clinton because you didn't like her in particular, fine. If you're coming up with strange, let alone nonsensical, reasons to be against about every woman running now, but not Bernie or the other men, maybe it's time to just admit to your biases. If Elizabeth Warren is too old for you, so is Bernie Sanders. Kamala Harris is 54. Gillibrand is 52. Tulsi Gabbard is 37, and a veteran. I mean, vote for whatever candidate what you want, but if you're against voting for a woman in general, just fucking own it. I don't want to vote for a man in the primary, so odds are I'm not going to. I own it. Voting is inherently discriminatory, so whatever.
I'll be real with you. Maybe I'm biased too. I'm a woman. I'm gay for the ladies. I live in a household of women. Excessive masculinity gets on my nerves. My militant feminism gets on some men's nerves. I would like to see a larger reality look a little more like my personal corner of the world.
Personally, my top pick is Elizabeth Warren. She's the closest match with my liberal snowflake values (CRAZY shit, like anti-racism, reproductive rights, social equality, access to affordable health care and child care, not treating this planet like a garbage dump as if we have another one to go to after we fuck it up, loving my amazing queer daughter every bit as much as my amazing straight one, etc.) among the women running who actually has a shot at becoming our first female President. She isn't "exactly" the same as Bernie, but yes, they're similar in a lot of way. If he wins the primary, I'll support him enthusiastically, but right now we have a real shot at a woman who knows what the fuck she's doing being able to reverse some of the damage Trump and Company have done. Emasculate Trump. Vote female.
One day, I'd really love to see more trans women, nonbinary, and queer people in general among those in power, but I'm OK with it if that needs to be worked up to over a few steps. Trans women made political history in in Minnesota (my home state) and Virginia during the midterms at the local level. I hope that's a sign of things to come. Sure, white cis het men need representation. I don't want to make you all disappear. I like it when you accuse me of wanting that though. Keep it up. I like making fun of you for it. All I want is to burn the white supremacist heteropatriarchy to the ground and light my weed with the flames. I know I'm asking a lot, but the least men could do is fucking sit one out. Maybe some long awaited change would happen.
Fuck Donald Trump.
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