Why the “Day Without a Woman” March Never Mattered Anyway
Marching is not going to lead us to the impeachment of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump must be impeached because of his violation of the foreign-emolument’s clause within the U.S. Constitution, his conflict of interest between his current gig as U.S. POTUS and a businessman. Although what he continues to say about women and people of color, that will not and con not lead to his impeachment. These issues are catastrophic, but mean little to nothing to the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Our education means everything in this day and age, but our pussy hats are arbitrary to the revolution we must demand.
Pink Pussy hats and “Pussy Grabs Back” signs do not matter.
Although these hats and signs of ours are cute and extra trendy, the pink pussy hats and catchy signs are exclusive to class and those who have resources to make them. Yes, your signs are awesome and, yes, taking to the streets is powerful. But protest is one small piece of the revolutionary puzzle that we need to overthrow a corrupt government. Knitting hats and painting signs is just the beginning of our revolution. This march is not and can not be enough.
We must stop being reactionary, and learn to be revolutionary.
I understand we are angry. I understand we are being marginalized. Our solidarity is important, our reactions are important, but our rebellion and daily actions are everything. We took to the streets and we showed our power in numbers, but what is coming next? Ask yourself if you participated in this second march: What have I done between the first march and the second march within my own community to be the change I demand to see?
I marched on 1/21/17 too. It was therapeutic that day. Now, I am frustrated because…
I am here because although you took to the streets and felt empowered, what you did today will not and can not be the change that we so badly need. I say that your march alone did not matter because making signs and taking to the streets will not change the next four years.
I should probably take at least a minute to say that I do not come from a place of malice with my statements. I stood at the Women’s March on January 21, 2017 like most of today’s marchers also did. I held my signs and yelled my chants and, God, did it feel therapeutic. I felt a sense of solidarity with others who, like me, need our patriarchal system to be ripped out of our institutions. But when I got home from the march and watched closely to what our 45th POTUS continues to do with his power, I realized that simply marching in the streets and showing legislation our bodies was not enough. In fact, like our reactionary march, I believe Trump himself reacted to us marchers. We are currently in this vicious cycle of loudly proclaiming our injustices, but not taking the necessary steps to be the change we so badly want to see. I mean, it really makes me wonder: Do we even know what the change we want to see looks like?
I visited the Women’s March website, as they were also responsible for the “Day Without a Woman” March on March 5. I was wondering what this organization’s objective aimed to change. I needed something tangible, and low and behold, they offered little to no objective aside from creating community. The website page has three ways for people to contribute to this “movement”:
1. Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor
2. Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses).
3. Wear RED in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman
I was in awe when I read how women were advised to stick it to “The Man”. For starters, women took to the streets on March 5 in Los Angeles and congregated around LAPD Headquarters… The website states that said march was to be held on March 8. I am not sure if those who marched on March 5th were aware of the march’s legitimate date, or were just a privileged group of women who knew they couldn’t make *that much* of a sacrifice to march on the 8th. Those who took to the streets on March 5, 2017 fail to realize the shallowness of their efforts… March 5th fell on a Sunday. Women were urged to “take the day off” on a day where many businesses are closed. This was not a major demand- This was a privileged and somewhat political stance.
I’ll move on to my second issue: Women are being asked on March 8th (or was it the 5th?) to avoid shopping for one day. One whole day of avoiding Target, or God forbid the grocery store. But, oh wait, you ARE still able to shop- So long as you are only buying from “small, women- and minority-owned businesses”. Am I allowed to buy PepsiCo product because the CEO is Indra Nooyi, a female entrepreneur? Or what about a pair of $69.95 shoes from Ivanka Trump, as she too happens to be a female business owner? I am not sure if I am supposed to be angry at the confusion of the Women’s March’s objective, or disappointed that yet again, the women’s movement fails to be inclusive of the lower class.
In all of my confusion of what I am supposed to be angry about, or even what I am supposed to be fighting for, I realize that the women’s march and day without women is not so much about intersectionality and more about privileged women doing their monthly charity work. In this movement to free women, we are silencing and excluding our most oppressed groups. While dismissing women who had no choice but to work on March 5th (or who might also have to work on March 8th…), we are not creating change. Let me remind you: While people are taking the street to protest our current POTUS and all of the wrongs in our world, Donald Trump and his regime are still hard at work deporting residents, tweeting about the media and signing executive orders to overturn the protection of environmentally protected bodies of water.
Our marchers have yet to show any sense of urgency… All they have really had is media coverage.
I understand that our fight is long, and revolution is not a speedy process. I understand that from the beginning of time, our country has been built in the name and glorification of patriarchy. But I also understand that since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency, our marches have done nothing. Our marchers have yet to show any sense of urgency… All they have really had is media coverage. But is this all that we are fighting for?
I urge you to put down your pink pussy hat. I urge you to put down your picket signs. I urge you to dive deeper. How can you, one person, be the change you want to see? Marching is not going to lead us to the impeachment of Donald Trump, nor will it push for better politicians. We must demand the withdrawal of corrupt government, and we must revolt with a united front, not a pink hat. We must stop turning to newsertainment for our information, and start promoting legitimate journalism. We must understand the oppression in our world, and figure out how we can demolish the systems that perpetuate this oppression. I am not tired of the long fight we are in for, but I am exhausted from hearing “activists” screaming at the top of their lungs and refusing to move onward and upward to fight for the change that feminism demands. We are here, and our marches have shown that. But we must take the steps forward and dismantle the system we continue to work within.
