a post-election reckoning

In the predawn hours on the day after the election, I processed my angst through my writing. I submitted this piece to GirlTalkHQ and they graciously decided to publish it.

If you’re feeling the way I’m feeling, you likely need to cope with your grief, your anger, your dismay. This is for you.

Here’s how the piece begins:

They chose the rapist.

They empowered the serial, sexual abuser.

The one who famously values women only for how sexually attractive they are to him.

The one who hand-picked Supreme Court justices who then stole reproductive rights from American women, rights they’d previously sworn were safe.

The one who bragged about that revocation of reproductive rights, how he was responsible for turning the clock back fifty years. Who selected a running mate who assesses females based on their reproductive status and their usefulness for the tasks of bearing, raising, and caring for children.

Supporters of this presidential ticket openly laughed about how their opponent — a former prosecutor-state attorney general-US senator-vice president — was a prostitute who gave blow jobs in order to get ahead, that she worked street corners.

They called their competitor stupid. A bitch. A hoe. The c-word.

To read the rest, go to GirlTalkHQ.

essay: what are the consequences of misogyny?

I went political with my latest column, this time for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Entitled, “What are the consequences of misogyny,” my piece was written in the wake of the president’s tweets which personally attacked the physical appearance of a female cable journalist. This is hardly the first time the president has stooped to this level.

Overall, the column is a plea for honorable people across the political spectrum to hold the president accountable for his misogynistic behavior, and it also expresses a likely unfulfilled hope that there be actual consequences for treating half of the nation’s population like objects with which to play or ridicule.

… I see treatment of women as an issue that transcends party. It is about basic decency. People who respect women and don’t simply offer hollow lip-service to women’s equality, should condemn all sexually harassing and exploitative commentary and actions. If you are a harasser and/or a demeanor of women, you are a problem. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent or if you work for the man. Full. Stop.

Read the full piece here.