Facts by Anecdote

I try and keep politics out of my blog, my social media, and my family circle, beyond my own household. Every so often though, I weigh in, not to try and change someone's mind politically, or to tell them their wrong, but to share another perspective. I got sucked in  twice-back on November 9th in response to comments on my blog post, and yesterday, in response to views on the women's March. This will be my one and only post on the subject, and I will post all respectful comments, regardless of view. I get that millions of women voted for Mr. Trump, and because I am a citizen of the United States, I accept that he is president, and will be for four years, unless something, as is the case with any president, intervenes. What I struggled with yesterday was both on social media and in the blogger world, writers telling their story about their success in life, having never experienced oppression, that they as a woman have never experienced negativity towards their gender, as statements of absolute facts, true for everyone. 

I didn't negate anyone's anecdotal evidence, in fact, congratulated them that they work for forward thinking companies, or have never been denied an opportunity because of their gender, or other circumstance of life. I shared that I, and countless other women, women who chose to march on Saturday, did not and do not have the same experiences. Ridiculous over the top celebrities aside, (no Madonna, Katy Perry, and  Hannah Montana do not speak for me, and can get off my team, thank  you), I can tell my anecdotes, and retell others where men without knowledge have come into predominantly female occupations, and have dominated the agenda. women who have been put on trial for being the victim of a male perpetrated crime, and stories of sisters and daughters marginalized in the education and health care system. There are facts and statistics behind the experiences, that make these stories more than anecdotes.

I don't think the women's march, peaceful from all accounts, was just a "Hillary didn't win, so down with Trump" but a call to keep vigilant, keep watching.  A call that as much progress may have been done in the last 100 years of gender and civil rights, that progress can easily be eroded under the wrong leadership. While during the election, the rhetoric seemed to be about what candidate was worse; who committed the bigger craptastic acts, the election is done, and now America moves on. My belief, whether anyone agrees there was a point to the march or not, was that the people who participated on Saturday wanted to let their voices be heard. The message, that while the election is over, and America is moving on, must move on, that it needs to be done going forward, not backward.