Did you hear? It's international women's day...

(Written Thursday, published Friday)


Til alle mine fantastisk flotte kvinnelige fjesbogvenner - HIPP HURRA FOR OSS PÅ KVINNEDAGEN!
(To all my fantastic female facebook friends - HURRAH FOR US ON WOMEN'S DAY)

Gratulerer til alle medsøstre med dagen i dag, 8. mars! ♥
(Best wishes to my sisters on our day, March 8th)

Gratulerer med dagen til alle jenter/damer/kvinner! :-)
(Happy Int'l Women's Day to all girls/ladies/women!)

Ihanaa päivää teille rakkaat ihanat naiset! ♥
Olkoon päiväsi täynnä iloa, onnea ja rakkautta! ♥
(Happy day to all the dear, lovely women
May your day be filled with joy, happiness and love!)


And my mother-in-law sent me a message with a quote from Pippi Longstocking:


"I haven't tried that before, so I know I can do it!"

This morning my facebook page was filled with many such wishes from my friends in Europe. 

While it may be a day to celebrate around the world, here in America I don't feel like celebrating. (None of my friends have mentioned it. Is Women's day only something they mention in the left wing media, like Huffington Post and NPR?) I keep thinking about that horrible man's media frenzy - calling a woman a slut and a prostitute for using birth control and her audacity for expecting it to be covered under her student medical insurance. Then he demanded that she post sex videos so that the "rest of us" get something back for our investment. 

Then to boot, instead of saying that he's being a misogynist, several presidential candidates basically agreed with what he's said, but called it a "poor choice of words". Does that mean slut and prostitute should be replaced by whore? Should he have gone farther? Or are they defending the logic but didn't like his slurs? 

Some days I'm really grateful to live in this beautiful country. We have opportunities, we have a melting pot like no other in the world. We have the rights to be who we are. To conform or not. To believe in any God we want - or not. To say what we believe, even when its hateful. 

But today is one of those days when it would be nice to live somewhere that celebrates the woman. I feel like instead of getting ahead in the past six months women have been falling behind. We don't even realize it ourselves half the time. Women who work shun women who stay home. Women who stay home condemn working moms as bad mothers. The ostracism starts at a very young age. Girls are horrid to each other without seeing that there are consequences to these actions: if a middle school girl calls someone a bitch, then she subconsciously reinforces that it's ok to use the term. 


It isn't just about rights, access to education, healthcare, work, love, equality. It's about celebrating what women are. Their accomplishments and challenges. Be it saving the world, figuring out a huge sales plan, reading (or writing) a wonderful book, helping a needy friend, or changing diapers. 


Congratulations, women, on all your successes. Whatever shape they take.

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