Day 163: I beg your pardon?

Okay, so this week has led to some of the craziest headlines of 2020 so far: U.S.A COVID death toll tops 170,000 with over 5 million Americans having tested positive for the illness. Fire tornadoes or "firenados" have taken over as the scariest combination of two separate scary words, snatching the title from reigning champion the murder hornets. Blackouts continue in California with temperatures recorded as high as 130 degrees fahrenheit in some areas that remain without power. Wildfires run rampant in much of the Colorado area, with the Pine Gulch blaze raining ash on the hood of my friend's car as evacuation orders are considered. The Postmaster General testifies today on the incredible amounts of voter suppression created through job loss in the USPS as well as the removal of mailboxes nationwide as all citizens are encouraged to "vote by mail" within the next couple of months. And to top it all off, TikTok doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I figured I would just throw that out there.

But let's go back to that voting thing for just a moment...this year we celebrate our first three digit anniversary of women being "given" the right (paradoxical, yes in fact) to vote. After several failed addresses to the press, Pres. Trump threw a hail mary pass to no one in particular by "pardoning Susan B.Anthony" for her tireless efforts in the suffragist movement.

Yeah. Let's hit a hard pause on that.

I am choosing to speak for myself here, however I have spoken with several other people, not just of my own gender identity, who find this statement leaving more than just a bad taste in their mouths too. Susan B. Anthony and all of the women who marched, protested, and participated in the suffragette movement did not do so to "be pardoned." Once again, even his choice of words makes my gender appear the passive one. Anthony was given a pardon; neither she, nor any woman speaking on her behalf (and who would actually be qualified to speak for her when she was advocating for own voice all along?) asked for a pardon. Do you hear the difference?

For a woman in 1919, voting was illegal. She fought against laws that were unjust and unfair to the female gender in representing the population (half of it) in its entirety. This is not something we as women ask to be pardoned for...the very notion that a pardon is necessary is insulting. The fact that it comes from a white man in one of the highest offices in the world with all the privilege you can luck into having, makes it that much more deplorable. It implies the continued power of a cis-gendered white man in our society having the power to grant clemency to women. Where is it seen that the same can be said of a woman granting this kind of pardon to a man?

This "pardon" is a blatant control tactic. It says, "I still have the power, little lady."

Women did not ask for a pardon.

We do not ask for a pardon.

We demand a voice to represent our ideas through equal voting rights in elections.

I am thrilled to be reading the headline that the Susan B. Anthony Museum has rejected Pres. Trump's "pardon" power play in lieu of allowing him to continue bullying and manipulating individuals into believing women ever required permission from a man to perform their rights and responsibilities exactly the same way that men have since the creation of this country in the 18th century.

This tone-deaf approach continues to grate on the ears, eyes, and souls of minorities far beyond just that of women. That said, both as a citizen and a woman in this country, the past four years have been triggering one tweet, one headline, one sound bite at a time.

No; you do not have the right to grab my pussy.

No; you do not have the right to comment on my physical appearance as a one metric measurement for my success.

No; you do not have the right to discuss "[my] blood coming out of [my] wherever."

No; you do not have the right to pay me off to "make [your] life easier."

No; you do not have the right to act as the end-all be-all of beauty standards.

No; you do not have the right to say "Deeply, deeply troubled women--[they] are the best in bed."

No; you do not have the right to regulate my access to women's healthcare.

No; you do not have the right to decide when this country collectively "is ready" for a female president---or vice president.

You may think that the voting base is the same as it was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but you managed to snatch the victory away as you have so many things from so many women, Mr. President. But you certainly haven't snagged my vote. You haven't snagged or manipulated me into staying home since my original choice is not your opposition.

What you have done is pile four years of trauma on women everywhere in this nation, day in, and day out, without our consent. The name calling, the lies, the choice you have consistently made to "be right" (even though this is a rarity) or "look right" rather than be kind at every opportunity...that is what you have left the female voting base with.

So save my pardon for your last turkey, Mr. President. This was a one-term affair for which I never gave my consent. You don't want nasty women after all the double standards, Mr. President?

Then you must beg my pardon for that alone.

Prepare,

-Allison