March Madness

People have the right to protest, not riot, and not litter. And we all have a right to analyze their protests to see if what they're saying is true and what they want is a good thing. A lot of people have spread this essay by Dina Leygerman. Let's take a look at it. After that, I'll link to some coherent and reality-based stuff.

It has the headline, "You Are Not Equal. I’m Sorry."

A post is making rounds on social media, in response to the Women’s March on Saturday, January 21, 2017. It starts with “I am not a “disgrace to women” because I don’t support the women’s march. I do not feel I am a “second class citizen” because I am a woman….”

This is my response to that post.

Because, if you don't think you're a victim, by golly you're wrong!

Say Thank You

Say thank you. Say thank you to the women who gave you a voice.

God (or Nature, if you prefer), gave her a voice.

Say thank you to the women who were arrested and imprisoned and beaten and gassed for you to have a voice. Say thank you to the women who refused to back down, to the women who fought tirelessly to give you a voice. Say thank you to the women who put their lives on hold, who –lucky for you — did not have “better things to do” than to march and protest and rally for your voice. So you don’t feel like a “second class citizen.” So you get to feel “equal.”

Apparently, all of the things those women did, didn't amount to much since you still, according to you, are so utterly mistreated because of your sex.
(and by the way it wouldn't have happenedwithout men) Men could have strapped you down and

Thank Susan B. Anthony and Alice Paul for your right to vote.

Both of whom were against abortion.

Thank Elizabeth Stanton for your right to work.

Against abortion.

Thank Maud Wood Park for your prenatal care and your identity outside of your husband.

Thank Rose Schneiderman for your humane working conditions.

Thank Eleanor Roosevelt and Molly Dewson for your ability to work in politics and affect policy.

Thank Margaret Sanger for your legal birth control.

Might want to think a bit before thanking Sanger.

You can make your own choices, speak and be heard, vote, work, control your body, defend yourself, defend your family, because of the women who marched.

Most of the organizers of that march want to gut or remove the Second Amendment.

You did nothing to earn those rights. You were born into those rights.

Yes, we all have rights. Big government tends to violate rights.

You did nothing, but you reap the benefits of women, strong women, women who fought misogyny and pushed through patriarchy and fought for you.

But they failed! Just listen to what is taught at universities. Misogyny and patriarchy are EVERYWHERE!!!

You did nothing to invent to automobile or railroad or airplanes, and yet you reap those benefits. Gonna march to thank the men who developed those things???

And you sit on your pedestal, a pedestal you are fortunate enough to have, and type. A keyboard warrior. A fighter for complacency. An acceptor of what you were given. A denier of facts. Wrapped up in your delusion of equality.

Denier of what facts? I guess we're going to find out.

You are not equal. Even if you feel like you are. You still make less than a man for doing the same work. You make less as a CEO, as an athlete, as an actress, as a doctor. You make less in government, in the tech industry, in healthcare.

Sigh. It's a lie that women make less than men for the same kind, level, amount, and quality of work. It's dung that is flung for political purposes, and it is embarrassing that so many women (and men) are duped.

You still don’t have full rights over your own body. Men are still debating over your uterus. Over your prenatal care. Over your choices.

Yes, men AND WOMEN, who are ELECTED or are appointed by elected people, are making decisions over TAXPAYER FUNDED programs. If you're going to rely on someone  else to pay for what you want, you're going to have to put up with decisions made by those other people. Unless, of course, the funding you're getting is alimony.

You still have to pay taxes for your basic sanitary needs.

That's called sales taxes, which some states and local government impose.

You still have to carry mace when walking alone at night.

OK, so this writer is whining about human nature, so we've moved on from laws.

You still have to prove to the court why you were drunk on the night you were raped. You still have to justify your behavior when a man forces himself on you.

What you have to do, if you're seeking to take away rights (remember those?!?) from another human being, is help prove that they have committed a serious crime against you. If there is little physical evidence to show that someone assaulted you, then your testimony they assaulted you is going to have to be reliable and credible.

When I reported my car stolen, one of the questions, among others, I was asked if I'd locked it. Why is that problematic?

You still don’t have paid (or even unpaid) maternity leave.

How do you know she doesn't? If you don't, well then you chose the wrong employer for you, didn't you? What this writer appears to mean is that the federal government isn't forcing other people to pay for yet another CHOICE of yours. Choice is important, remember?!?

You still have to go back to work while your body is broken.

Broken? No, you don't have to go back to work. If you PLANNED YOUR PARENTHOOD (remember how important that is?!?) and made good CHOICES, then you can actually RAISE YOUR OWN CHILD.

While you silently suffer from postpartum depression.

Again, this is a complaint about human nature. Or does the writer thing PPD is a conspiracy foisted on women by men? How about TELLING A DOCTOR you're depressed? My guess is almost no women with infants are silent.

You still have to fight to breastfeed in public.

1) Not under the law, and 2) not if you're modest.

You are still objectified.

This is another complaint about human nature, and if you think men aren't objectified, you're spending too much time smoking dope. What's marching going to do about it? What law is going to be passed to change that?

You are still catcalled.

Human nature. Doesn't apply to a lot of women who marched, though.

You are still sexualized.

Human nature. Doesn't apply to a lot of women who marched, though.

You are still told you’re too skinny or you’re too fat.

Usually by 1) yourself (a woman); 2) other women; 3) gay men who work with models. And we have to listen to those people, right? Because they are victim groups. So, what are you going to do? And again, what is a law going to do about this?

You’re still told you’re too old or too young.

Is this about not being able to drive when you were 14? Or not being able to play on the slide when you were 14?

You’re applauded when you “age gracefully.”

HOW HORRIFYING!!!

You’re still told men age “better.”

By whom?

You’re still told to dress like a lady. You are still judged on your outfit instead of what’s in your head.

Do you really think this sort of thing doesn't happen to men? We get judged on our cars, too.

What brand bag you have still matters more than your college degree.

You're hanging out with too many catty women and gay men. Really now. And your degree matters to me. For example, if you're a Feminist Studies major, I will want to make sure you hold that mayo.

You are still being abused by your husband, by your boyfriend. You’re still being murdered by your partners. Being beaten by your soulmate.

If only there were some laws and programs against domestic violence. If only women could choose their partners.

You're mentally ill if you think the person who beats you is your soulmate.

You are still worse off if you are a woman of color, a gay woman, a transgender woman.

Well the "transgender" "woman" is going to be bad off, because that's a mentally ill man who might be having healthy body parts lopped off.

You are still harassed, belittled, dehumanized.

You need to stop hanging out with that crowd of yours. Really.

Your daughters are still told they are beautiful before they are told they are smart.

We can see what she looks like right away.

Your daughters are still told to behave even though “boys will be boys.”

Boys ARE told to behave, even when "behave" is really "conform to the norms of girls, even if we have to drug you."

Your daughters are still told boys pull hair or pinch them because they like them.

Let's station a federal government agent in every home to make sure this doesn't happen.

You are not equal. Your daughters are not equal. You are still systemically oppressed.

GOT THAT?!? YOU'RE A VICTIM! NOW VOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO WILL TAKE MORE OF YOUR MONEY AND USURP MORE POWER SO THAT YOU CAN BE PROTECTED!!!

Estonia allows parents to take up to three years of leave, fully paid for the first 435 days. United States has no policy requiring maternity leave.

Funny thing, that, Estonia is not the USA. It has a different Constitution and different population and is in a different location. Shocking, I know.

Singapore’s women feel safe walking alone at night. American women do not.

Ooh, can we get caning as an official criminal sentence here, too?

The United States ranks at 45 for women’s equality. Behind Rwanda, Cuba, Philippines, Jamaica.

According to whom?!? By what measurement?!?

You believe feminists are emotional, irrational, unreasonable.

What would ever give someone that idea?

Why aren’t women just satisfied with their lives, right?

Nobody should ever be satisfied. They should revel in misery. That's a good way to go through life.

But don’t worry. I will walk for you. I will walk for your daughter. And your daughter’s daughter.

Why do you assume she wants to be a mother? What kind of misogynist are YOU?

Because women who actually care and support other women don’t care what you think about them.

But you wrote this anyway.

They care about their future and the future of the women who come after them.

Most of the women who didn't march care, too, and for many of them, it is why they didn't march.

Because I’m here to tell you, along with millions of other women that you are not equal. Our equality is an illusion. A feel-good sleight of hand. A trick of the mind. I’m sorry to tell you, but you are not equal. And neither are your daughters.

Repeating it doesn't make it true.

And one day you will actually be equal, instead of just feeling like you are.

When will that be? What will that look like? "One day" never comes because then your silly activist groups lose their fundraising narratives. You want women angry and miserable and fearful so they will keep doing what you tell them to do, all while claiming you're protecting their choice, all while you help enlarge government at the expense of their liberty.
Let's get back to the real world.

I don't always agree with Matt Walsh, but he did some fine writing the last several days. First, there was this.

I challenge anyone at the "Women's March" or anyone who supports it to name one single right men have in America that women do not. Just one. Just one right. Give me just one right that you lack which may justify all of this hyperventilating.

If you turn the question around, I can, in fact, name some rights women have in America that men do not. At least one, anyway, but it's a big one: Women have the right to kill their kids. Now, that's not a positive right, not a good right, not an actual right that springs from Natural Law, but it is a legal entitlement given only to women.

So where do women lack rights? Yes, things like rape and domestic violence occur all too often, but these aren't examples of legal persecutions. Violence against women is illegal. If the perpetrators are not always punished it's because these crimes often prove difficult to investigate and prosecute. It isn't because the court system or society are somehow OK with abuse so long as women are the victims.

Later...

What I'm trying to figure out, again, is where women are being INSTITUTIONALLY or LEGALLY victimized or disenfranchised or put upon or deprived of their constitutional rights in America. Where is this happening? Seriously, where?

Walsh checked in again:

On Saturday, thousands of women dressed up in vagina costumes and descended upon DC to demand, among other things, free birth control and abortion. They called this the "Women's March," but I think that name is a terrible insult to women. The women closest to me in my life would rather die than put on a vagina hat and march through Washington in support of the mass slaughter of children. And I mean that literally, by the way. They'd literally take a bullet in the head before they'd participate in such a "protest."

He linked to his column.

He later checked in again:

People have been sending me posts written by some liberal mommy bloggers responding to my comments about the so-called Women's March. It appears that I have sparked a Mass Triggering Event (MTE). Mainly these women are upset that I dare have any opinion at all because I am a man. I do not have the required genitalia to participate in this discussion, they say. I am engaging in "mansplaining," and we all know that mansplaining is a Cardinal sin in our society.

Ok. A few responses to these responses:

It's a good thing Walsh can write back.

1) It is not necessary that you have a certain type of genitalia in order to observe what is happening around you and form opinions about it. In order for those opinions to be reasonable and intelligent, it is only required that you have a brain. It is unfortunate that so many people in our country formulate their opinions with their crotches rather than their heads.

1a) But I thought your genitals have nothing to do with your gender anyway? How can these people still pull the "no uterus, no opinion" card while at the same time pulling the "no uterus, you can still be a woman" card? Get your stories straight, for God's sake.

Yes, it is confusing, isn't it? But consistency isn't a Leftist value. I'm sure by now they've come up with a term to describe people who notice this contradiction, and, having come up with a label, they will declare victory as though they actually explained themselves.

2) If I ever dared to suggest that women should not have an opinion on any topic -- no matter what it is -- these same feminists would be sent into seizures of anger. I would probably be arrested for causing our nation's feminist population to spontaneously combust from outrage. But, luckily for them, I would not say that because that would be very stupid. Women can have opinions about anything. So can men. Deal with it.

But that's different! You see, you're a man. And in the name of equality, your opinion matters less. Or something.

3) These liberal feminists are cowards. They pretend that my position -- the pro-life, pro-family, anti-leftist position -- is somehow an invention of men because that gives them an excuse to dismiss it without engaging it. What they do not acknowledge -- because they're afraid to -- is that a great many women share this view and have eloquently articulated it. In fact, a MAJORITY of women believe, for instance, that abortion should be to some extent restricted. If you go to the March For Life, you will find that it is populated mostly by women (although there are also plenty of men). And in terms of the Women's March, most of the criticisms I read on social media were from women. So what happens when a woman disagrees with feminists? Is she "womansplaining"? Or perhaps she is just forming her own point of view -- a habit that feminists certainly find objectionable.

4) It is actually quite insulting to women to suggest that men somehow own or invented the pro-life point of view. What you're saying is that only men have the moral and intellectual clarity to disagree with killing babies. Fortunately, that is not in the least bit true. Many of the great pro-life pioneers and advocates are women. Many of the people down in the trenches of this fight, battling the demonic evil of abortion on a daily basis, are women. I would even suggest that a majority are women, although I don't have the statistics to prove that. In any case, the point is that this is not a men vs women thing. This is a People Who Believe In Basic Human Rights vs People Who Don't thing. There are men and women on both sides.

5) The term "mansplaining" is deeply, deeply idiotic. I immediately stop taking you seriously the moment you utter it. I am not alone in that. Stop making up words. Stop acting like men are somehow out of bounds just because they're voicing their beliefs on a subject. Stop trying to insulate yourself from opposing view points by pretending that everyone who holds that view point is a sexist, woman-hating villain. Show some intellectual honesty for a change. Engage arguments on their own merits. Think for yourself. But maybe start by just thinking in the first place.

Well, there you go. I just couldn't reduce the text.