I’m sitting here with a heart in pain.
After a few moments on Twitter, I notice many tweets mentioning
the #waronwomen. I search on the hashtag and see a slew of tweets
that seem to span the gamut of feelings on this subject.
It all feels painful.
It all feels so far away from what I know is alive inside each of us…that sacred spark of the divine.
How could we be facing this in 2012?
How could equal rights for one gender STILL be in question?
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In my heart, I know…
We teach our children that their body is theirs and that no one has the right to touch it. We teach our children to alert us when someone touches them inappropriately.
Yet, we are debating whether it should be law to control women’s bodies and the power we have to choose for ourselves and our bodies.
At what point do our daughters no longer have the right to say, “No. Stop. This is my body.”?Â
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To those who want to control us, what do you say to your own daughters and granddaughters? To your wives? To your mothers? To the women in your life I know you must truly love?
To those of you who feel such a need to try to control women and our bodies:
It hurts my heart to be at war with you.
It hurts my heart to fear you, to rage against you, and  to fight you.
And,
It hurts my heart to be shamed, humiliated, and denigrated because I am a woman.
It hurts my heart to even begin to think about what my granddaughter will have to face as she grows older.
My heart is not a weak organ. It is bold, and fierce and completely ready to stand firm in what I know to be true…
That we all lose in this system of privilege and oppression, domination and control.
That we will not survive if we continue to let fear rule over love.
That I will not die with words left unspoken.
Who we truly are is not of this war.
When we come to be united as women, and those men who honor and respect us, we will know a power we’ve not yet known.
There is a place outside of, and out from under, this system where we can live in full respect for both genders.
If I rage against those who would want to control me, I just strengthen them.
Yet, I do feel rage.
Let our rage be a creative force that finds a new way.
Let the fierceness that is at the heart of women forge this new way.
This new way is the way of love, and lest you think love is weak, think again.
How do we mobilize?Â
Where do we go from here?
