It appears even Ms. Rice was feelin' a bit of the annual International Women's Day, 3/8. In a press statement, she said that, "We must not forget that the advance of women’s rights and the advance of human liberty go hand in hand. Around the world, women of courage are standing up for freedom and human dignity. The United States stands with them."
That's right we do. Unless they stand up for freedoms and dignities that aren't popular or legally sanctioned. Reproductive rights, anyone?
Then, well, these "women of courage" are shit out of luck.
At least they might have gotten a parade to march in, if they were lucky.
I marched in my own parade this evening, wearing steel-toed boots and dancing at a punk rock show. I was celebrating the freedom I enjoy today as a grown, independent, fierce and strong-willed woman, knowing that my predecessors would not necessarily have enjoyed those kinds of freedoms to the same degree. My evening was lived on my own terms, alone, without any input from anybody but myself.
And then, on my way home, I got called all manner of unmentionable names simply by virtue of the fact that I was walking home, alone.
Little steps, folks. Baby steps.
We'll get there, one day. I'm just not looking for Condi to take me to the promised land. Not even to give me a ride to shoe store. Feh. Even my cat makes funny faces everytime she hears Condi's voice on television. No sisterly bonding there, apparently.
Silja J.A. Talvi, a senior editor at In These Times, is an investigative journalist and essayist with credits in many dozens of newspapers and magazines nationwide, including The Nation, Salon, Santa Fe Reporter, Utne, and the Christian Science Monitor.
