General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you think that feminists [View all]kdmorris
(5,649 posts)I was just having a laugh at the poster that said you couldn't know about how hard it is for us. Yes, in many cases, the USA is backwards as hell - the crap that the GOP does is worth fighting against. I was only able to take off 8 weeks after the birth of my twins because that was all my short term disability paid for. We don't have paid leave here and I've heard of so many women who have to go back to work at 1 or 2 weeks postpartum because they can't afford to be out (no STD) or the Family Medical Leave Act doesn't apply to them (small businesses). I could have stayed out for 12 weeks and just taken 4 unpaid except that I had already used all my FMLA due to being on bed rest for 5 weeks before their birth (and I can't really afford that).
I have personally never been paid less than a man at any of my jobs, but I know it happens. And I work in a male dominated field (Information Technology). In one of my jobs, the women made of less than 10% of our department. They were actively seeking to hire more women.
All of the things you mention are worth fighting against. Like you, I think that we should fight the politicians and not each other.
And, when all is said and done, I realize with 100% clarity that, though we don't have Northern Europe style equality here and we don't have universal health care or paid maternity leave or equal pay, the USA is still not the most awful place ever to have been born a woman. We have a lot of work to do, but we have more work to do in Afghanistan, the Sudan, India, Pakistan and larges parts of Africa and Asia. I was not born there and ethnically, I am not from any of those cultures, but I can identify with the suffering of the people (the vulnerable - children, women, the elderly always suffer more, but many people do suffer) in those countries and want to change it.
When we run out of wine, whiskey and beer... we can always play with our (tkmorris and I) 6 month old twins. I'm sure I'm biased, but I happen to think they are the most awesome, cutest babies in the whole wide world! And they can't talk yet, so they won't say anything wrong. They don't do really well at stfu, but at least you can't understand them!
hmmmmm maybe we should play with them first and save the booze for later! A bunch of drunken men and women playing with babies is a recipe for disaster