For most women like myself, a day without women who claim to speak for other women would be a peaceful reprieve. These women have declared themselves the self-appointed spokespeople for all things female. The problem is they don’t represent all females, particularly females who voted in the last election.
Donald Trump won 53% of white women at a time when a white woman was running to become the first female President. Let that sink in.
Simply put, Hillary Clinton was running to make history as the first female president and the majority of her gender and race said, “No thanks, we’re with him.”
We don’t want to be lectured on how Planned Parenthood helps women, because if you throw away the talking points you will find that they exist to perform abortions. Not one single mammogram is performed by them, and Planned Parenthood’s own employees admit they don’t even provide prenatal services.
These women love to remind you how strong and independent they are, so surely they are independent enough to pay for their own birth control and abortions. I’d be happy to have a day off from hearing about funding their uteruses.
I think all women would agree that if you have the same background and experience as a man and you’re doing the same job as a man, then you should get paid the same as a man. However, when you’re screaming that the new administration doesn’t like equal pay while you voted for Hillary Clinton, whose foundation paid its female employees substantially less than men, you’ve lost all credibility with the majority of women in this country whom you claim to represent.
According to the Clinton Foundation’s 2014 tax returns, its female executives made 72 cents for every dollar a male executive made. That’s less than the 79 cent national average that Clinton loved to cite in her campaign speeches!
It’s also worth noting that President Trump is the first Republican to include a maternity leave plan as part of his campaign platform. These women who claim to speak for other women never seem to include that fact in their talking points.
It would be nice to have a day off from hearing about where I need to shop and who I need to boycott because certain stores carry the Ivanka Trump brand, and they’re mad that her dad won the election. So now women must unite to destroy a business that a strong, independent woman built. If you’re confused because you thought these women championed strong independent women, you’re not alone.
We women who disagree with these women who claim to speak for us represent a larger – but not necessarily louder – group, except when we’re voting on a ballot or with our wallets. Then we are loud and clear.
Women who champion their gender don’t set out to destroy factions of it simply because they are a threat to their manufactured marketing campaign. If they are truly concerned about our country rolling back the progress women have made, they don’t demonize people like Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway, and Melania Trump, who epitomize the independence and success for which they claim to fight.
It would be nice to press the pause button for 24 hours, and not have to hear about how they’re sitting, what they’re wearing, or how they speak.
I welcome a day off from being lectured on how I hate women and children because I, along with the majority of the country, oppose illegal immigration and allowing refugees to come into this country without being properly vetted. Or, that I’m hateful because I happen to think a boy with boy parts should not be allowed to use a girls’ bathroom.
How ironic would that be — a day without being lectured to about “hate” by a group that has their day off organized by a woman with ties to – what many would call – hateful actors and organizations. Unfortunately, their day off only seems to be a day off from actual work, like their jobs and taking care of their kids.
However, on behalf of the majority of intelligent, independent women who voted in the last election — and not for the woman running — we would welcome a day off from the noise.
Lauren DeBellis Appell is a freelance writer and mother of two girls based in Fairfax, Virginia.