Our Responsibilities on the Centennial of Women’s Right
To Vote
I was unfriended for posting that Marianne Williamson
supports vaccinations. It was during the 2019 political campaign when social
media insisted she was a fat-shamer and an “anti-vaxxer.” One of my intelligent friends blocked me when
I insisted that Big Cat Rescue/Tiger King’s “villain” Carole Baskin was loved
by the Cat Writers’ community.
The City of Boston excommunicated Anne Hutchinson, in
1638, because she taught religion in her home.
In her trial, the church leader that, initially, helped midwife Anne
bury a stillborn baby, betrayed her confidence. He testified against her.
The “witches” of the Middle Ages disturbed the male-led
world order as many were midwives who brought new babies into the world. They
were accused of eating babies and having their cats sneak into religious
leaders’ bedrooms to infiltrate their dreams!
I would have been burned or hanged as a witch. I love cats, and have spoken up for myself.
From firing an assistant who bullied a black man to pointing out a dear friend’s
hypocrisy, I’ve angered friends whom I’ve confronted!
I’m grateful to be alive today, thanks to my mom,
ancestors, and inspirational big sisters like Gloria Steinem, and those
activists who fought for women before her.
I’m glad that people like me are speaking up, and setting records
straight, because we’re getting great work done in honest and powerful ways. We
care about people, and many men and women know it.
I think that because the “crazy” women have purposeful
lives and reflect historical archetypes of the “witch”/ ”mother”/ ”sage,” these
females are scorned even by other women. Carrie Chapman Catt was a leader of
the women’s suffrage movement that helped women the right to vote 100 years
ago, August 26, 1920. First Ladies
Eleanor Roosevelt and Michelle Obama are powerful and magical women, but regarded
negatively by those with too much time on their hands and too little brains in
their heads.
We still haven’t passed the Equal Rights Amendment, first
introduced to Congress in 1971 (after almost 50 years of the first
draft!). We’re two states away from
ratifying it to the United States Constitution. If it weren’t for the
neighborhood feminist, who called me “Ms.” Leighton, I might not have voted for
it. It was my first time at the polls,
and I didn’t know that I could be self-dependent being so new in the working
world.
Fortunately, nobody made my way easy, and I adapted,
taking care of business. What keeps us working is that we’re here to serve the
planet and its people. I developed a professional showbiz career on my terms
both as an artist and music services person.
News of corruption, sexual misconduct, using government
funds for personal use from national heroes, allegedly responsible leaders, and
public figures coincided with the declining physical health of our world. We
yell at our neighbors. We saw our
sisters lose careers if they spoke up against on-the-job abuse. Some of us put them down, instead of going
the extra mile to find out what was hurting them.
One of the reasons we still struggle is that the
truth-telling woman has been ostracized since the beginning of time.
Smear campaigns… gossip… rumors. Marianne Williamson posted on her social
media, August 5, 2019 “There’s an ancient strain of misogyny that labels any
women who doesn’t toe the line with the status quo of her time as ‘crazy’ or
‘dangerous.’ We will not have full empowerment of women until we face that head
on.”
Gloria Steinem speaks of the importance of building up
other women, not breaking them down. She never felt she could succeed alone.
One of my showbiz online forums had a man posting that the Chicks were
insincere and pandering to the public for dropping the offensive “Dixie” from
their name. A woman spoke up for the
performers, “We should be happy they’re supporting blacks.” When he called them
“irrelevant,” a lesbian posted that she appreciated their support all these
years to the LGBTQ community, and that they collaborated with Taylor Swift. We
can show the same support for our friends when they’re disrespected.
None of us like gaslighting, nor people telling lies
about us. Even if there’s readily
accessible proof of our innocence, we’ll see dishonest accusations. Maybe the
bully is overwhelmed by the amount of content online. Then again, perhaps the attacker has anger at
the world, and wants to start a fight by belittling others.
Women need to speak up for themselves, especially if
they’re the only ones willing to stand up for themselves!
We need to speak up for one another. I first heard about Carole Baskin being
bullied on the Netflix series “Tiger King” from Paw Project activist, veterinarian
Dr Jennifer Conrad. I was appalled as
the Big Cat Rescue owners had been a great source when I wrote about jaguars
and needed photos for CatFancy. Tigers
In America owner William Nimmo (tigersinamerica.org) said her rescue is a top
tier animal sanctuary. Animal Planet’s Jackson Galaxy posted support on social
media. She’s admitted on her website that she made mistakes in her early years,
when she bred wild cats. But she moved on, and became a responsible animal
rescuer. Part of her mission is lobbying Washington, DC politicians to pass HR
1380 and S2561:“The Big Cat Safety Act.” The goal is to diminish breeding and
trade of wild cats.
Famous “witches” are Hillary Clinton, the Chicks (now and
when they were Dixie), technology geeks, bodybuilders, Susan Boyle, Madam CJ
Walker, Cher…. Even with deliberate adversity,
these women seem to magically prove themselves because they’re smart,
productive, and not involved with smear campaigns. They’re busy making the world a better place,
including doing their homework and being there for their friends.
These women work in mysterious ways. They know their
talents and purpose because they served the public, even making others
powerful. They’re so connected with the
universe because they play and work with honesty, working for inclusion,
especially for the underdogs....or abandoned cats.
