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I know it’s pretentious to speak on behalf of an entire gender, and I know women have become very adept at fighting their own battles, but I’d like to offer an apology to the women of America that we have not done a better job of supporting you. Because somehow, we find ourselves living in a country where mothers wake up every day wondering whether your children are safe going to school. Mothers wake up every day hoping their daughter doesn’t end up pregnant after being attacked walking home from school, or in the back room of church.
And if that happens, mothers wake up every day wondering how they’re going to address this problem without getting arrested, or harassed by people with an agenda that shows absolutely no sympathy for people who make innocent mistakes.
Somehow we have a man convicted of sexual assault for president, and a Supreme Court that has decided that a perfectly legal right that was granted to all women in America 60 years ago is no longer valid. Somehow we live in a country where if you’re an indigenous woman, and you disappear; law enforcement sees you as just another imposition that’s not worth their time. Or if you’re a woman of color who happens to encounter a cop who jumps to an unfortunate conclusion because of your appearance, and decides they’re in danger, they are often inclined to harm you with no repercussions.
Somehow we find ourselves living in a country where our children are forced to learn how to respond in case someone enters their building with a weapon, a possibility that was unthinkable when I was a child. And somehow we find ourselves in a country where getting bullied for being different has become entirely acceptable among adults, which gives children exactly the wrong kind of role model for how to treat kids who might see the world a little differently, or see themselves differently.
We have let you down, women of America.
While the right wing fills the streets with their Proud Boys and their Oath Keepers, what have we done to rise up to support you?
Why are there not thousands of men marching to protect the right to body autonomy, or demanding action on gun control?
I know so many women who are terrified of the long term impact of this election, and of course I know a lot of men who are equally terrified, but fear should always be a motivator, not something that leaves us paralyzed. Statistics say that close to 80 percent of Americans are opposed to the government having any say in what a woman decides about her body. Statistics tell us that more than half of Americans are in favor of some form of gun control. And yet we sit idly by, and yes, I count myself as part of this sad statistic, and we wait for someone else to do something about it.
And I apologize for that. We should be doing more.