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 Saturday, October 5, 2018

Last January at the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey made a speech about women revolting against sexual violence.

In response, Steve Bannon, right wing professional poisoner of cultural wells, responded, “The anti-patriarchy movement is going to undo 10,000 years of recorded history. You watch. The time has come. Women are gonna take charge of society …”

I thought, jeepers, he’s saying that like it’s a bad thing.

He was saying it as a booga-booga thing. Be very scared: women want power and control. They want respect. They want to be the ones who record history. They don’t want to be raped anymore. They don’t want to be lied to or laughed at, or about, anymore. They don’t want to be afraid anymore.

There are a lot of other things women want (pockets) and don’t want (mansplaining), but I only have 800 words here. Apparently, the thought of women overthrowing the patriarchy makes some men’s testicles retreat ‘way up into their bodies.

Bannon and his ilk don’t have to worry about the women taking over any time soon. Today the Senate confirmed the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, against the will of most of the American people.

Important: this is not the end of the world. It’s not good, but it’s not the end.

The last few weeks have been tough. Many women and men, including me, have been triggered by the testimony of the women who came forward to testify that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted them. Our sexual abuse and assault stories have come to life again. Some people have been talking about what happened for the first time. Some people have been sobbing. Some people have been outright throwing up.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court has confirmed that in the USA it’s okay to sexually assault women, insult women, laugh at women, and not believe women. Also boys. All children, all women.

Years ago, when Rush Limbaugh and other right-wing propagandists came on the scene, I could not see how anyone could take them seriously. They were irrational. They were mean and vindictive. They claimed to support our troops but were vicious to any vet who opposed any part of our wars. They whined and claimed to be victimized by people on Medicare and Food Stamps. They lied, made stuff up, and stoked fear, and people believed them. I could not see why – what they said was so transparently bull pucky. All emotion and no reason. How could anyone swallow that tripe?

But people did swallow that tripe, raw and whole. Even people I thought were intelligent. And look where we are now.

Now, I was raised in a conservative Republican family, so I tend to be comfortable around conservative people. I have Republican relatives with whom I have agreed that relationships are more important than politics.

I had a friend from way back who became a radical right winger. I know a Navy vet with whom I have something in common, the concern for the needs of blue water sailors, Navy vets like my husband Rick, who were exposed to Agent Orange, but who don’t get pensions.

I’ve had to block a couple of these people from my Facebook page. They don’t seem to be able to control the impulse to attack my political views or stop themselves from being rude to my friends. When they come onto my timeline and fire off some nasty insults or racist remarks, I consider that the equivalent of coming into my house and taking a dump on the rug. So I think, didn’t your mother raise you better than that? Then I go to settings and block them. Peace. It’s wonderful.

I assure you that when the women take over we will not eradicate recorded history. We might give the record a more honest, inclusive take, so there will be fewer of those reveal articles that are always coming up: “Did you know that so-and-so was (black) (gay) (Native American) (a woman) (other)?” or “Did you know that we made it into space because of black woman mathematicians?” for example. Somehow recorded history has neglected to record a lot of that history.

If women ran the world, maybe they’d screw things up as badly as men have. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Who knows?

I only wish I could live to see the day when women have the chance to de-throne the patriarchy.

I wish I could live to see the day when human beings realize that we are all in this together.

The election is the sixth of November. Our ballots come in the mail, and the return envelopes are now postage paid. There is also a secure drop box at the Vashon library. *VOTE!