Its the day after International Womens Day - by Maureen Hope

Its the day after International Womens Day. Time for some feminine eloquence. This from Erin-Ashley Kerti:

International Women's Day

" Three generations before me, my great-grandmother left an abusive alcoholic. She took her babies, got out and divorced him in a time when being a divorced woman was a bigger scandal than staying with an abusive man. My great-grandmother taught my grandmother what to do when she encountered an abusive man - "Leave. Walk away and never look back."

My grandmother passed that wisdom to my mother. My mother passed it to me. I grew up knowing that if I were in danger around a man, the proper response - the only safe response - was to cut him out of my life completely. No contact. No conversation. No "fixing" it.

It was better to be single, divorced, ALIVE than it was to be in an abusive relationship. Even if I loved him.

I grew up drawing pictures on that green and white continuous printer paper that businesses used in the 90s. I'd doodle off to the side in the board room while my mom ran the company she was a part of.
I saw her discuss business, evaluate proposals, negotiate contracts and hold her own in a company in the midwest in a field dominated by men. She was often mistaken as a secretary instead of one of the board members. I remember her sigh of frustration and indignation when a man tried to belittle her for her gender, and how she held her own. She had that position for a reason.

She taught me how to read legalese, how to understand contracts and that while it might be tougher as a woman, that I absolutely could break through any glass ceiling thrown at me.

My father taught me a love of science and critical thinking. He was downright excited when I solved an algebraic equation in my head at the end of elementary school - a full year or two before I learned algebra. He would spend hours discussing science with me and the only thing he said I couldn't be when I grew up was a princess (because I wasn't from a royal family, apparently. He was being literal.)
He taught me how to change a tire, change my own oil, use power tools, defend myself if someone attacked me and encouraged sports.

My other grandmother went to college and became a pharmacist in a time when the professor wouldn't grade her calculus homework because "women couldn't be expected to understand the complexities of math" and "it was cruel to expect them to." She learned anyway.

I've been surrounded by people who value women for their intellect, their personhood my whole life. I didn't realize how rare that was until I was in my late 20s.

And now the political climate is such that basic rights women have fought for in previous generations are once again threatened.

I don't know why men (and some women) seem to think that our uteruses should have different laws governing them than every other organ in our bodies.

I don't understand why some people defend men and companies when in conversations about the pay gap. Of course it's a complicated issue - that's why we need to start with the easiest legislation (don't pay men grossly more than women in your own damn company.) Once we get the relatively simple things out of the way, we can dive into the more nuanced aspects that need to be addressed.

I don't understand why fewer women in STEM professions isn't considered a crisis.

I have no patience for abuse of any kind, whether it's physical or gaslighting or minimizing real issues that need to be addressed.

And you shouldn't have patience for it, either. This is a day where we need to stop with the excuses and build a better future. We are capable of better."

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