“There were thousands of women packed to the brim of a metro; we somehow made room for more at each stop. One of the last to get on was an elderly woman in a wheelchair. She told stories about marches she was at before.” Women’s issues are taken so lightly by people who are not affected by them. Women’s rights movement persists in a circular progression.
While an astounding 8,000 people marched in Washington DC on October 2, 2021 there were 100 people participating in a rally at the center of downtown frederick.The corner of market and patrick was populated with young women, older women, loving humans, and supportive partners. The wide variety of human beings was imperative for this liberating experience. Passing cars would honk their horns or blurt out obscene statements. More striking than all of these liberated people standing with one another in the name of representation, was the hate.
By standing there you could quickly come accustomed to how polarizing reproductive rights are for people. I wasn’t surprised that some who passed had made opposing comments. What shocked me was that some people made no comments whatsoever. How could you walk by a legion of people who radiate such passion for a movement that changes the course of a human being’s life? Even though the subject at hand was stiff, my companions in justice were welcoming and kind. These women screamed, and chanted, and cursed, and laughed, and felt just about everything a human being could. Ironic how such a horrendous situation could bring people together so well.
As a young person I have never questioned my beliefs on abortion rights because people need to have a choice. As a woman, it would be dehumanizing to have no reproductive rights. The thought of being trapped in your own body to carry a fetus against your will is nauseating. It reminds me of cattle. Melodramatic I know, but it rings some resemblance to the war on women’s reproductive rights. Dairy cows begin to produce when they are only 15 months old. From then on they are expected to birth calves every twelve months until they die of exhaustion. Their legs will damage and eventually break. Broken and brittle, they are then killed and the process picks up with one of the cows that had come from that one.
It was surprising that some people that passed were not willing to take up the ultimatum. As a young person who has strong beliefs on reproductive rights, I often find myself leading with my passion. I consider myself a lifelong learner that strives to keep an open mind for all experiences.
Although I did learn a lot about the tedious and ongoing fight for women’s reproductive rights from the rally, a more general lesson stays with me. You will get so much more out of an experience that truly matters with people you truly value rather than an experience you are simply there for with people who are just there.
