This is currently feels in the middle of the shit storm that’s surrounding the recent Planned Parenthood fetus scandal, and the pro-birth right-wing women-hating agenda, coupled with a few things that have happened at work.
I work at a marketing and pr agency (again, in a role well below my experience, skills, and education, but like my therapist says, working is good, and if I didn’t work my depression would be worse, which I don’t agree with but hey ho) and we publish a newsletter for our clients. I can’t go into details for fear of someone finding out who I am (it’s a very industry-specific comms agency), but this month we had a generic article discussing what women can do to advance their careers even though they’re pregnant.
It was full of shit anyway.
Tips like: don’t slack off at work just because you’re pregnant.
Don’t miss important deadlines because of doctors appointments.
Plan your time off and don’t make any excuses, and weeeeeee you can advance gender equality!
Ok I might be a bitter bitch, but to me that’s just bullshit. Being pregnant IS a special time in someone’s life, and it can REALLY be physically and emotionally challenging!
In any case, we sent the newsletters out and a bunch of WOMEN wrote back saying they don’t approve, they don’t want the women’s equality article in their customer newsletters, yadda yadda yadda.
WOMEN.
Don’t want women’s equality.
It is not like their employees suddenly will find out they have right and go off and get pregnant! We have NO rights!!!
Seriously, we are one of the only countries in the world where no federal maternity laws exist. 40% of women are excluded from some shitty little 3-month unpaid FMLA there is, and me included, will have to get fired or quit when we decide to care for THE NEXT GENERATION OF HUMAN BEINGS.
Women have no rights.
Men don’t need maternity leave, men don’t need abortions, men don’t need contraception, and men will never be judged by the size of their breasts (well, moobs will turn anyone off but still…) This country is run by MEN whose agenda is being advanced, along with business’ agenda, not the employees’ rights.
The Republicans and all those right-wing heartless people do not care about women. Neither do they care about children. They care about FETUSES that might have a potential to become a human being. As soon as the fetus is popped out, suddenly it’s “her responsibility” to look after it, whether she can or not. Pro-birth, not pro-life.
I am so angry that although I slave away all day despite my depression (which I can’t disclose because no disability rights cover me) and pregnancy (already feel judged and I can’t even mention it, I have to pretend it doesn’t exist and nothing is different about me), once it comes time to deliver, I’ll be out of work with no income.
Well, it was my decision to have a child. I do weep for all those women whose decision it wasn’t, and who are forced to have them because abortion care isn’t available to them. Maybe when birth control wasn’t available to them in the first place…!
This country really hates women.
It hates employees who are not mindless robots and work to perfection every single second of the time they’re on the clock.
And I think this country hates poor people, sick people, disabled people, people with anything that separates them from rich white men.
I’m sorry if this rant offends you, but it is my experience of life in the United States of America, and if someone can prove me wrong, I’d love for them to explain the situation to me.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful night.
Little Girl In The Rain 