You may have noticed recently that I’ve been pretty verbal about what’s been happening in Texas in regard to women’s health*.
I was part of the 180k people watching the Texas Tribune livestream. I watched Wendy Davis show her super hero status. I watched “the people” make their voice heard. I saw the Texas GOP try to lie and say SB5 pass. I beamed the next morning when I saw that, while the GOP tried to cheat, they failed and SB5 was deemed not passed.
I then saw Rick Perry turn around and announce another special session starting July 1st and put the damn abortion bill back into action because he’s damn sure that he knows more about the will of the women of Texas than they do. Perry & the Texas GOP are pushing legislation that 80% of Texas disagree with, but they’re patting people on the head and saying “hush up now, we’re doing what’s best for you.”
Hulk smash, right?
So the question is, what now? If we’re going to see this sort of thing happening in Texas again, and Texas isn’t the only place, then how can I help those women? I want to help. But I feel like this is one of those things where online avatars just won’t be enough.
A friend sent me a link to a new FB page called “Don’t Fuck With Texas” because he thought I’d want to support it, given my take on this.
Which got me thinking on this entire topic on what I could do. What little ole me could do or support or create or lend my voice to, to make a difference.
A sex strike doesn’t sound like a good idea. If for no other reason than, in addition to disliking the practice of sex as a weapon or withholding as punishment, women enjoy sex too! Why do we need to give up what we enjoy to prove that our bodies belong to us?
So then I thought, “Well, what about pink shoes? We could all wear pink shoes like Wendy.”. Except pink shoes are subtle and, while it’s a nice gesture, the men who are pushing this radical agenda ignore much more “in your face” tactics than pink shoes.
Then I thought, “A sick out. Cops get Blue Flu. What if all the women of Texas just took a sick day? Show how integral they are to the every day life if the Texan economy?”, but on the heels of that was a worry that women might feel their jobs were at risk and maybe some of them might get fired.
At this point, the best I have is a sit in in which people literally surround the Texas State House so that legislators can’t get in to do anything, much less, pass an abortion bill.
But here’s what I feel. If we do anything, whatever we do — we need to help the women of Texas speak out. They are the voice that needs to roar loudest. They’re the ones we need to empower.
So it needs to be something they want to participate in. Not something we do to them, but something they do for themselves.
Cause I’m pretty sure they’re sick and tired of people telling them what to do.
/end ponderant
*If you’re not aware I was mouthy recently, yep I was! Shocker, I know. If you don’t know what I mean about Texas, Google so you can be up to speed on this conversation!