The Women’s March, held in Washington and in other cities around the U.S. and elsewhere, explains its mission by beginning with these words: “The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us – immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.” It later states: “We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society.” Parity and equity (with men) for women remains an admirable goal, but rarely do those who complain of the “war against women” admit the immense strides that women have made toward equality in this country.
Let’s look at a few of the rights American women enjoy that women in various other countries around the world do not. It is our right not to be murdered or abandoned as babies for being born female. It is our right to be provided for by our parents– fed, clothed, housed and educated — and if we are not, the government will step in and try to help us. It is our right to be educated at least through high school. It is our right and not the government’s to choose to attend college or not, and if we decide we wish to attend, grants, loans, and scholarships are available to help us pay for it. It is our right to play the same sports as boys, often on the same teams if our slighter physical build does not make that dangerous. It is our right not to be beaten, sexually abused, or killed by our male relatives or by our husbands, even in so called “honor killings.” It is our right to wear pretty much what we want in public, baring faces, hair, ankles, legs, midriffs, arms, shoulders, cleavage and backs as we choose. It is our right to walk unescorted on city streets. It is our right to obtain a license and drive a car. It is our right as adults to choose whom we wish to marry, either male or female, and when. It is also our right to choose not to marry at all. It is our right to live where we choose. It is our right to travel where we will, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world. It is our right to vote and to hold public office. It is our right to hold a job and to rise as far in that job as our skills will take us. It is our right to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, plumbers, senators, congresswomen, supreme court judges and to run for president. But in America, there is one right which women do not have. It is not a woman’s right to be born.