October Recap: State of Women
True to my most New England roots, fall is my favorite season. As we move deeper into wrapping up the year and winding down for our winter hibernation mode, I want to do a quick wrap up of that state of women in October. That state of our women is: unclear.
Recap 1: Women’s Health Awareness: Pink-washing is still a Waste of Money
Great news! October is host to several women’s health awareness months. There’s National Breast Cancer Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Mammogram Day (no, thank you! But yes, get one), International Day of the Girl, and a few others.
Lots of people wore pink and companies rebranded their logos (though not their carcinogenic products) to help fight breast cancer. So, as of today, 1 November, we are free of health issues and gender biases.
Not.
It turns out that vague blue-ribbon ceremonies don’t translate into direct action.
Recap 2: For-profit hospitals are still predatory and wreaking more damage
During this very important women’s health awareness month, The Boston Globe, and other sources revealed that up to 40,000 Massachusetts resident might lost insurance coverage at the beginning of the year. Despite having a “progressive” governor, health insurance companies and for-profit hospitals are still out there causing widespread damage to local constituencies.
In September, several Steward hospitals filed for bankruptcy and were either bought out or closed. For-Profit predators Steward have been joined in their quest to make money off the suffering of people by the equally predatory Tenet group. In failing to negotiate with one of the state’s largest insurers, Tenet has caused Massachusetts residents to lose coverage on January 1, which I learned about from my friend whose wife is due with their first child in early February and currently has prenatal depression. I’m sure losing her insurance and doctor will not exacerbate that at all.
Recap 3: Gisele Pellicot may be the biggest badass on the planet
In case you missed it (I’m sorry for bringing this to your attention): there’s a trial in France right now that pretty much sums up why women say “yes, all men.” Dominique Pellicot has admitted to drugging his wife until she was unconscious and advertising her to men who would come and rape her.
Over decades, Pellicot allowed 72 men to rape his Gisele, some with condoms, some without (including one who was HIV positive). Pellicot and 50 men, ages ranging from mid-twenties to their seventies, are on trial but face only up to 20 years in prison.
As women online have pointed out, it is not only that 72 men did this; it is that we don’t know how many more men heard about the advertisements and did not contact the police. Possibly hundreds of men, including people who knew Gisele personally, allowed this to happen or participated in it. There is not enough disgust to go around for these men and the spineless bystanders who will avoid trial.
Some days, I think it’s time to bring back public shaming as punishment. Give these guys 20 years, but every day put them out in the stocks so we can throw stuff at them. What makes Gisele the badass? These trials are usually private, but she demanded a public one in order to put the shame where it goes: “it is not us who should feel shame.” Madame, if you are reading this please know that quote will live in my heart forever when I am confronted with the misplaced shame of our anti-women, victim-blaming cultures.
Recap 4: Radical Right Wingers Call for Repealing the 19th Amendment, Claim their Wives Can’s Vote Against them, and Put a fake Kamala Harris in Chains.
You read all of that right.
Apparently, there are still women having sex with Trump supporters. The Pellicot case shows exactly what happens when you marry a man who doesn’t think you’re a person, but I guess these Trump-lover-loving ladies are hardcore into the “leopards won’t eat my face” crowd. Of course, not all MAGA men are ok with their wives and girlfriends having their own choices (duh). A Fox News host likened his wife voting for Harris to adultery; ironically, his current wife is his former affair partner, so I guess he’d know what adultery looks like.
Given that we’re just moving out of Domestic Violence Awareness month, I’m actually a little worried about these ads telling women that their votes are secret and to cancel out the Trump votes. A lot of women, no matter who they’re going to vote for, are going to get beaten up badly if Harris wins. These ads may think they’re being clever and reaching out to women, but they’re just as likely putting women into danger.
Add this to online manosphere folks who continue to say maybe women shouldn’t be able to vote at all, including Elon Musk (though, to be really clear, I don’t think he believes in anything at all) and Andrew Tate (if you don’t know who he is, don’t bother looking him up). Trump and Vance have attracted a strong contingent of men, including Gen Z men, who hate women and are voting for them because of that. Trump supporters recently put a float of a chained/enslaved Kamala Harris in their Halloween parade, not long after Trump’s historically-accurate re-enactment of a Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden so that should be fun in the next few months.
The State of Women is Concerning, but I’m Suspiciously Optimistic
Looking back at some of the highlights (and lowlights) of October, we have to wonder what the month ahead will bring. But I’m suspiciously optimistic because there are so many people around the country crossing party lines and other differences to find a common effort. It is in people where I find my most hope and my greatest despair.
What to watch out for in November? The election. Remember, remember the 5th of November, friends. And if you have women you love, vote for Harris. I understand the third party or non-voting people will try to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter or that voting for Harris is voting for genocide, but here’s the thing: Trump would be worse on every policy, Gaza included.
If your problem is that you hate the two-party system, understand that with Harris, local and state level changes to the two-party system will be more possible (fight for ranked choice voting, open primaries, propose a proportional Electoral College). Also understand that if Jill Stein gave a damn about the two-party system she’d be working between elections and not just jumping up every four years to toot her own horn.
If your problem is Gaza, Harris might not make it better, but Trump will make it worse. We are not living in a world where we can guarantee the next president will stop the genocide. We’re living in one where we get to choose to stop the person who will make it worse or not. I’m sorry that we have bad choices, but we do. Your moral hands are not going to be clean in this election. If you vote for Trump, you vote for genocide. If you vote for Harris you vote for hopefully less genocide. If you vote third party or stay out, you vote that you don’t care if the genocide is worse or better as long as you can pretend your hands are clean. Life isn’t about purity tests and keeping your hands clean, it’s about finding what’s worth getting your hands dirty for. Even a chance to stop the genocide in Gaza is worth getting your hands dirty for.
