tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48257003333048826542024-02-20T02:25:27.952-08:00One Woman, One VoiceAN ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN AND THE MENTALLY ILL.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13896656527438542035noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4825700333304882654.post-51008934348210692012016-11-10T13:48:00.000-08:002016-11-10T13:48:03.005-08:00A LONG ROAD AHEAD...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">11/10/16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve always just been me. I couldn’t help but be me. I’ve
tried fitting into a box someone else designed for me. That was an unmitigated
disaster. I’ve been lied to about my career. To be honest I never really gave
much thought to how stacked the deck was against a woman or even a little girl
until I saw how ostracized I would become because I dared speak my mind. Or
embraced how smart I was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How difficult it was because I was so smart, yet so
emotional. How I wanted to be loved <i>and </i>respected
when women were lucky in a man’s world to receive one or the other but not
both. So when I do receive both it is a beautiful thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When it comes to proving yourself in the workplace we,
as women know, we are pigeon holed into certain arenas. And if we are not “nice”
enough or “pretty enough” or “thin enough” on top of already doing 2x the
workload of a by default setting of a man’s workload we may still fail in our
ultimate goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And to top it off we will still be paid less for what
we do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some may perceive this on my part as simply sour
grapes. Or I may be called a femininazi. A bra burner. Or any other less
desirable name. I say fucking bring it on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I know my stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">George Clooney famously said this about his career.
This shit over here I’ll eat. This shit over here I won’t. I'm not eating shit anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People don’t want to be made to feel uncomfortable.
And the issues I talk about will definitely bring discomfort to people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The truth is this. Misogyny is real. It is alive and
it is quite well. Thriving even.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People who are the others. People who are other than.
By this I mean the angry white Christian male. I don’t think of you as the
enemy. It serves no real purpose for me to see you that way. I see you as
misguided, misinformed, petulant children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While I’ll admit change is difficult. (Even I hate
change to my routine and I act out in terrible ways) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are times when I
must swallow my pride and know what I did was wrong. What 25% of our population
did was not only demand that their candidate was right to act and speak in such
an agregious way they elected him by the very way they said was rigged, the
electoral college. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does anyone realize this man, the man who egged on the
chants of lock her up over emails that said nothing, a man who welcomed the
Russians’ involvement in our politics, to the point they cheered his election.
A man ON TAPE bragging about sexual assault about how as a star he can get away
with it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A man who will be on trial for FRAUD charges connected
to Trump University and rape allegations in another one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a woman, as a human, as an American I did not vote
for this man. That being said I respect the office of the President of the
United States of America. I believe in the Constitution as a living document. I
believe 49% of this country did not vote. I’m talking to the my vote doesn’t
matter crowd. It matters. Women especially your vote freaking matters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I don’t root for this man to fail. I root for him to
rise above what got him to this office. I pray that his pathological need for
an audience doesn’t destroy our great nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am not running for public office. I am using my
voice to be heard to be heeded so that the status quo during the next election cycle
will change the make-up of the Senate and Congress. I know less people tend to
vote mid-presidential election cycles. It is ironic that it is in these cycles
where most change can be seen and felt on a very local level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As for our President-elect. My God be with you. And
may God be with everyone. And women, it is time to make your voices heard. I am
but one woman with one voice. We must stand together lest we fall apart.</span><span style="background: white; color: #545454; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13896656527438542035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4825700333304882654.post-89595753685193183302016-11-09T12:26:00.000-08:002016-11-09T12:26:24.553-08:00The Day After...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">11/9/2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> August 20th,
1920. All women in the United States are GUARANTEED the RIGHT to VOTE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">June 8<sup>th</sup>, 1975. I am born into a family
where I am taught not only is voting my civic duty, but what I do with that
vote matters. In my immediate family we are a deeply blue team who live in a
deeply red state. Yes, occasionally in the local races I’ll cross party lines
throw a vote a Republican’s way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">November 9<sup>th</sup>, 2016. This morning Donald Trump
is declared President Elect. But that was just a formality. The writing was on
the wall around midnight so I called it a night and decided there was only a
few things I could do before the next election about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Accept the defeat of my candidate, Hillary Clinton
with as much grace and dignity as she did. Then turn around and pick up the
mantle of what I was most passionate about. Mental Health Advocacy and Women’s
Rights. Clearly we have an incoming President-elect that is a huge question
mark in terms of policy. But in terms of personal action and accountability is
seared into my mind on exactly where he stands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As an artist in all forms, author, screenwriter and
filmmaker I know I can no longer sit idly by in silence in the face of such a
clarion call from angry whites in this country as a coming out of sorts for a
racist and misogynistic Naltionalist Party. And frankly, it terrifies me. I
must pick up my ink pen, take a piece of paper and make my voice heard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Will it be heard? Only if other women of every stripe
and ethnicity pick up the banner for women and those who champion the mentally
ill band together to see to it to those of us with targets on our backs aren’t
the next ones to go down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because allow me to explain. Those medications I take,
those psych appointments I’m able to keep, those therapy talks I get every week
to keep me from triggering into a nasty state of mind that would make people
unhappy, leave me miserable, and perhaps, in a worst case scenario at the mercy
of an ignorant law force out to protect themselves and themselves alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People hear entitlements and they think cut them.
Without mercy cut them. Really often it’s the very ones who need it the most
that say cut my own throat because I deserve them, I need them. There’s a
general idea of fuck you I got mine in certain parts of this country combined
with a toxic mix of I need it and I alone can determine if you deserve it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I tell you, as a woman who is on Medicare with
Obamacare supplemental insurance and monthly disability I went to bed feeling
like a moving target. I also have Diabetes. I don’t pretend to understand why
there is so much anger targeted towards women and other minorities. And I
really don’t understand how a woman can vote against their own best
self-interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I watched one woman say we’re taking our country back
in Michigan and my heart sank. While I will continue to respect the office of
the President of the United States that does not mean I will stand and do nothing
as he attempts to wreck our country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To my friends in the LGBT community, your fight is
also my fight. And while my focus is on Women’s Rights and Mental Health
Advocacy I am very much a Human Rights fighter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To everyone who thinks I’m the enemy please understand
I am not. I am just one woman, one voice who loves my country deeply and I do
not wish to see it rip itself apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13896656527438542035noreply@blogger.com6