reverse freedoms
1 July 2025
Here's where we are.
We've attended the protests with signs stating "MY GRANDMOTHER WON ME THE RIGHT TO VOTE, YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE IT" and "KEEP ABORTION LEGAL: MY BODY, MY CHOICE!
We called and emailed our representatives.
We called and emailed their representatives.
We attended both live and virtual town meetings, spoke and and were even removed for asking questions.
They slashed our rights, anyway.
Think of the dragon of Silene, or Beowulf--how they went down. Evil dragons do not go easily, or quietly, and they take anyone they can with them. We are now fighting evil. Keep that image in mind as we forge through this, and accept that we may not all make it. And that's OK. I, for one, will die with my boots on.
Forward is the only direction: How do we survive from here? How do we continue in a country that clearly hates us?
We've no choice but to get a passport. If you do not have one already, it will take months, but you need to do it. Now. Today. You'll need your birth certificate--contact your county of birth for a copy. As backup, get a copy of your marriage license as well, from the county in which you were married. If you're over 50, you probably have your social security card stuffed in your wallet behind your state driver's license as well. Collect everything, apply for your passport.
Not because you are leaving the country, but because if you are married, they're trying to stop you from voting. Your married name---on your social security card, state driver's license, taxes, paycheck, house title, car title--your legal freaking name ---does not match your birth certificate, so they can deny you voting access. BONUS, they can also deny you traveling to another state, forcing you to surrender your state driver's license for a Federal ID that will not let you drive or rent a car, and you'll have to retake your driver's tests when you return to your home state.
A passport---at the moment---will avoid this ludicrous insanity.
And if you are young and planning on getting married----don't take his name. Just don't do it. It'll save a nightmare in the future, and honestly, the whole system is about women as possessions, not people. It should have been stopped decades ago.
Do Not Leave Your House Alone. Your early morning run or evening workout should already require that you check in with someone before you leave and when you arrive. If at all possible, take someone with you. Please. We are not safe any more. Absolutely do not go to a bar, movie, restaurant alone. Have a plan posted someplace that your husband, mother, girlfriend, wife, partner, best friend---someone---knows about that states your weekly schedule and contact numbers of individuals you see daily ( your bosses, colleagues). Think CSI is in your house and you've gone missing: where did you put your information for them to find?
Do you have a lawyer? Find one if you can. Their name is on the top of your plan.
Buy food at the farmer's market. Food poisoning is on the rise, whenever possible buy your food locally and prepare your own meals.
If you are fortunate enough to have health care, use it. See your doctor, get your yearly physical, mammograms, pap test. Start paying more attention to how you exercise and eat. Prepare as if you are going to lose access to your health care by the end of the year. This includes finding alternate ways to get your meds--by mail from Canada is a popular choice. Change your thinking about access and start shifting toward "What if" and a barter system. Change your definition of "Self Care" to "I don't have healthcare".
Use Karen For Good And Not Evil. She need only be unleashed on ICE or any bullying that you encounter. Leave your neighbor's fence, their garbage cans, their poopy dog, their 17 cars parked in front of their house, the hell alone. You have the power of crazy, unleash it on what matters: fight inequity, injustice, prejudice, assaults and kidnapping. Use your phone to record ICE detentions. Ask the detainee como te llamas?(koh-MOH teh YAH-mas) and cuantos anos ( quantos an-ohs). At the grocery store, demand to see the manager when you discover an unacceptable number of expired items on the shelves and get a contact number for the corporate office and follow through. Go higher. Don't yell at clerks, they have no power. Go after the Big Guys, follow the money and find the problem.
Stand Up For Other Women. Don't let your job title allow you to bully other women, or to allow someone else to bully a woman. Straighten her crown without anybody noticing. Help her help herself.
Volunteer. Somewhere. Anywhere. The animal shelter, usher at your regional theatre, drive one day a week for Meals on Wheels, help load in from the food bank---hell, donate to the food bank. Do Something For Someone Else.
Mostly, please stop yelling at clerks and calling the police on birdwatchers. Use your Mrs. Kravitz energy to impact change for the greater good, not for yourself.
Wear sunscreen. And a hat -at the protest you are attending even though it seems to be an uphill battle. You're a woman. You're a mom. You know it's all uphill and we do it anyway.
If you have a straight white male in your life who is saying things like "I don't know anything about that" or "It is beyond my control", and he is sharing your bed, consider going Lysistrata on his ass until he joins the real world. This may prove more motivating than simply saying "Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fucking prom".
Control What You Can.
Repaint a room, refurbish furniture. Spend additional time with your children or parents or friends. Teach summer school. Finish "That Project" you've been meaning to complete for years. Learn to stitch or knit or crochet or write or paint or garden or work out or explore parts of your state. Make small micro plans to the zoo or coffee or rearrange your office--things you can complete easily and quickly and have complete control over. We've learned quickly we have no control over anything being decided about our lives--regardless of emails, phone calls and protests---and the only way to stay sane is to control something productive. Use it for good, not evil. We are women, and we build: we do not destroy.
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