I understand that I, as a man, can’t fully comprehend the past and present struggles that women have overcome. I was fortunate to be born in a family where women are respected for their intellectualism and leadership.
My mother left her rural North Carolina family farm in 1953 to become the first person in her family to attend college. She had applied to architecture school but was rejected because they only allowed men at that time. I believe that rejection was the catalyst for a lifetime of promoting the role and rights of women in our society. She went on to earn degrees in American history, museum studies and women’s studies. At the age of 83, she still works full time as a curator at the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of American History, where she has for over 25 years. (Until last year, she still commuted by foot over a mile each way from her Capitol Hill home.)
I was also blessed to grow up with my talented and beautiful older sister. She is the one who dropped out of college so she could work to help put her husband through medical school. Fortunately, she landed a position on the editorial staff of the local newspaper, where she earned a reputation as an intellectual and influential commenter. Eventually she went back to college and is now a free-lance writer working primarily with the US Centers for Disease Control, using her talents to help educate and inform citizens of the world-wide health issues we face.
In 1989 I met an amazing young woman that changed my whole life forever. She was here on a student visa from her homeland of Helsinki, Finland to attend law school at George Washington University. She already had a law degree in her own country – but came here and earned another studying in a language that was not her native tongue. Passed the bar exam on her first try, too. As you might suspect, I fell in love with this incredible woman. I knew I was not worthy in the presence of her brilliance and beauty, but asked her to marry me nonetheless. 27 years later and we are still together - with two wonderful children.
Which brings me to our incredible daughter. At the age of 15, the young lady demonstrates a level of social and political awareness, knowledge of current events, and compassion for others that is far greater than most adults I know. I remember once when she was 10 - I can’t remember the issue - but I remarked “that’s ironic”. She proceeded to remind me that irony is based on a “perceived contradiction” (her exact words) and pressed me for the contradiction in that scenario. She concluded the situation was not ironic, but just “extraordinary” – again her words. This little girl of 10 had a better grasp on the subject than her father did as a freshman college student. (No wonder I wound up in engineering school.) I am not even going to go into her amazing talents as an artist, musician, fashion designer/seamstress and her academic prowess taking AP classes as a high school sophomore while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA.
If this sounds like more like a tribute to the women of my family than a diary, well — I guess in a way, it is. But I believe most men feel the same way about the women in their lives and would share similar testimonials to their greatness. And I know a few of us want to show our love, our respect, our admiration, and our passion for their rights – by joining the march on Washington this Saturday. So, with your permission, a few hundred thousand of us would like to join you.
EDIT: A tip of the hat to hudsonvalleymark for the suggestion that we use this diary to encourage all men help make this a historic event.
So guys, let’s take this day to join your mothers, sisters, wife and daughters, and your other brothers and make it clear to Mr. ‘P’-grabber and his minions that the rights of our loved ones are OFF LIMITS to his tiny fingers…
And as an incentive: After the march, I will be serving pilsners and ipa’s, and sauv blancs to passersby walking home from the event in NE, DC. Contact me through kos mail if you want the address and I’ll be glad to pour you one.
EDIT: Wow the rec list AND my first troll! My momma will be proud…
