Women Speak Up: Your Story is Critical

If you have a personal story, about reproductive rights, it’s time to speak up

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I’m Gen-Xer and whether I like it not, many in my generation are a tad spoiled and a little apathetic as a whole when it comes to politics.

My mother, my grandmother, and my great grandmother were more or less on the front lines of the women’s movement. Many of the members of the writing community I belong to stood up back then and still do.

Say what you will about the Boomer generation. They fought the fight, they marched and protested.

They went against the grain. They didn’t hesitate to rock the boat.

I have benefited greatly in my life from their strength and courage. My millennial and zoomer children (I have two of each), likely unrecognized to them, have benefited from it too.

I fought some

When I was younger, yes, I participated in advocacy events quite often. I worked tirelessly to empower individual women, especially those wanting to return to college, leave an abusive relationship, or who were raising children in poverty. I attended several Ms Foundation conferences. I facilitated life skills (not martial arts) classes for disadvantaged women.

I resisted being a “woman who was seen and not heard” and I wasn’t afraid to “rock the boat” or “make a few waves” when the safety of women or children was at risk. The programs and classes I taught regularly encouraged other women to find their voice, be assertive, and stand up for themselves.

I adopted the motto “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission” and I forged ahead if I thought what I was doing could make a difference in someone’s life.

Into the Shadows

But as I became more busy as a mother myself, with four children instead of two, I’m ashamed to admit I took some of those hard won struggles for granted. I left social service and those long hours. In hindsight I think I was mentally exhausted from working as much as I could to make ends meet and raise four children alone.

Several years later after learning through research exactly how deeply ingrained the control over…