If the Democratic Party is so fragile that it's survival hinges on women giving men what they want when they want it- I'll watch it burn.
If the price of winning elections is asking women to surrender what peace they may have found in life- I'll watch it burn.
If the only way to get men to return to the Democratic Party is by convincing women to be "nicer", more patient, more tolerant, less demanding, less vocal, less angry-
I'll watch it burn.
Would you tell LGBTQ people to get back in the closet? Tell Black people to return to the back of the bus? Tell disabled people that accessibility just isn't important anymore? You going to tell Indigenous people they should be grateful for what they have? Will you tell pagans, atheists, and other non-Christians to shut up about the encroachment of Christianity into our government? Would you say, or even just imply, that any of those people should sit down, be quiet, and play along since we need to woo back all those lonely angry straight cis White Christian men? Tell them that the future of the Democratic Party and even the nation depends on it? If so-
I'll watch it burn.
Because it would eventually go up in flames anyway. Marginalized, abused, and oppressed people won't stay that way forever. They never have. Societies that depend on the subjugation of large segments of their populations cannot endure indefinitely. Sooner or later they either learn better, and evolve...or they crumble. They burn.
I won't make myself smile when I want to rage, make myself accept what is utterly unacceptable, and I sure as hell won't pretend that everything's fine when it absolutely is not. Women have been doing that shit for the past few thousand years. Look how well that has worked out.
Somewhere someone might be reading this and thinking, Well women have to/women should/if they would just... No. Full stop. Someone else may be thinking, Not all men! We know it's not all men, ok? But it is far too many. And if your first reaction to hearing any of this is to get defensive I'd suggest that a bit of reflection may be in order.
Misogyny is actively promoted within conservativism, but liberals are not immune to it. That is nothing new. And this diary is not just in response to a particular post here, or comments to such a post. It's in response to what I've been seeing and hearing in recent months, not from party leaders (yet) but out here in the world. The misogynistic element on our side is feeling rather emboldened these days. And it's getting louder.
I won't cooperate with any group, however promising it sounds on paper, whose continued relevance would involve asking it's women members to hush up, sit down, and smile more. Or go make a sandwich. Or go to bed with a man just to calm his ass down.
This is non-negotiable.
I'll watch it burn first.
•••••••
See you there.
