Congratulations. This time, the coming lesson is wholly yours. When you face moments of need — and you will — I want you to remember November 5, 2024, the day you turned away from us. And for what? For your husband? Your wallets? Your need to feel cool? While women’s rights were being stripped away, with autonomy on the line, you were absent.
You cast your vote for a man who has a long history of violence against woman; a man who sees women as objects, a man who said:
“You’ve got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women… Never admit.”
“Well, I’m going to do it. Whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them.”
“26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military — only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
This is the leader you chose. This is the future you empowered. You have placed our rights in the hands of men who view our bodies as property, our voices as noise, and our experiences as disposable.
Consider the men you’ve put in power and the twisted beliefs they espouse:
- Rep. Jack Nelsen: A former dairy farmer who thinks handling cows somehow makes him an expert on women’s health.
- Rep. Lupe Diaz: Who cruelly believes that children of rape survivors should endure their trauma as a “healing” experience.
- Sen. Tim Scott: Who bizarrely imagines fetuses can feel pleasure in the womb.
- Rep. Todd Akin: Who claimed women’s bodies can “shut down” to prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.”
- Rep. Jean Schmidt: Who said a 13-year-old who is raped and becomes pregnant has been given “an opportunity.”
These are not merely offensive statements; they are deliberate, dismissive attacks on all woman. They trivialize sexual violence, mock the complexity of our health, and show utter disregard for our dignity and autonomy.
So yes, when the day comes that this movement turns against you personally, remember that these are the voices you chose. When you cast your ballot, you aligned with a power that reduces women to silent, obedient vessels, that treats sexual violence as mere “method of conception,” and that believes our pain is the price we pay simply for existing.
As women, we hold a duty to protect one another, to carry each other’s stories, to defend our shared rights. But by voting for these men, you turned your back on that duty. And yet, when you need us most — when this movement inevitably reaches into your life and strips away your liberty — know that despite everything, we’ll still stand by you. Why? Because we are woman.
Sincerely,
A Woman.