"I'm having Issues"

"I’m having Issues.”

I wanted to start by saying something that celebrates women. 
All to often, it’s a kind of bad news to be one, 
the lie that we live in that we all have the same freedoms.

It’s enough just to look at the worldview to know 
that however far we have come on this issue  
there’s still a long way to go.

So, to celebrate women, first you must find them, 
(they're usually behind the scenes). 

The marginalized, often despised strong women of the world, 
making history and babies and poetry happen since time began.

You know that expression, “He’s a self-made man.”?

There is no corresponding phrase for women, because ALL women 
are self-made women.

Any woman who survived her childhood and managed to escape 
the kitchen is a self-made woman, there is no need to make the distinction. 

In fact, if a woman isn’t making it on her own, 
she is considered “taken care of”.

It’s a strange thing to love being female in the face of such 
blatant hatred towards us.

Now, I say hatred so as not to be confused, I’m not  
just a little bit upset about a few slanderous remarks from some fat talking heads, or the comments from Republican representatives that’ll make your stomach clench up and your hands coil into fists-

I am talking about the sheer amount of rapists, and murderers, and predators that exist in this sick society that we live in. 

Because Patriarchy is a vicious system, full of wage gaps and rape victims.

And I’m watching as they attack the hard earned rights of women in this country, and those gains, my friends, are not going to be let go of quietly.

I, for one, think they should be fought for and protected.

But then, I guess that makes me a militant feminist- so go ahead-

call me all your names. 
You know, I don’t even flinch at name calling anymore.

Doesn’t mean I want to debate this shit with every meat-head I meet, either.

Can you believe that some days I just get sick of hearing it altogether?

You know what else I’m sick of hearing? You throw like a girl.

“Oh, you throw like a girl.” you throw like a girl.

Damn it, I am a girl! So why should I aspire to throw any other way?

Like you think it’s so great that you got all the upper body strength.

Man, I have the strength of connectedness. 

I am the Earth and its consciousness and yes, I throw like a girl.

I’m better at a lot of things and I think that the point is that

Equality isn’t about treating everyone the same cause 
we’re all the same, ok?

It’s about treating everyone with respect 
because we’re all different.

That there are strengths and weaknesses in each of us.

And that we may learn from each other’s experiences.

Cause me? Man, I’m all about the win-win.

I’m all about the putting time into the collective, because together we are greater than

And men- if you can’t see that "Women’s Issues" are of your concern too

then I’m afraid we’re all screwed!

So, it should bother you when Republicans try to throw us under the bus.

It should bother you that they want us all bare foot and pregnant.

And ladies and gentlemen, if you think you’ve had enough yet, it’s time to tell them.

This isn’t about contraception. It’s about adequate healthcare and education in the first place. It’s about getting paid 80 cents on the dollar still, and being told to cough it up for daycare- I mean, they got us coming and going, don’t they?

They got us squabbling about it on Election Day, 

and I’m telling you-

don’t be fooled. 

They will divide us any way that they can

because when we come together- we are greater than.

And women: 

The calamities of the world are Women’s Issues.

This ten-year war on terror is affecting women too. 
The holes in the Ozone layer and the prison systems and the lunches that they’re feeding to the kids in the schools- is our issue.

And, frankly, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

To find peace (and I mean for everyone).

To protect and replace the social safety net that  
we put there, and for a good reason.

To stamp out greed, and hatred, and corruption,

and learn to see every injustice as the problem,

and learn how to put our two cents in to help solve them.

Because the future is brand new.

So what are the women and men of conscience going to do?

Cause when it comes down to it, it’s ganna be up to me and you.