We make uncomfortable jokes a lot in my house about the PATRIARCHY(!!!) and how men still try to control everything, and all-too-often succeed. And then sometimes, it’s not a joke, and we see blatant examples of how this is still true. In the category of “a picture says 1000″ words,” this one has been going around.
A bunch of men. Sitting around a table. Deciding how they should limit health coverage for women. Birth control coverage. Rights to choice on reproductive care. Access to health screenings. Funding for Planned Parenthood (which is often literally the only thing that gives younger/poorer women power over their own bodies). And a wide variety of other health issues. Yes, they are talking about how to limit coverage for men too — but in this administration, men are apparently the only opinions who get to sit around the table.
Maybe it’s “just” optics. Maybe someone just screwed up in taking the picture, and there are a lot of women standing in the back of the room behind the camera (sad, patriarchial irony intended). Maybe all of these men are selfless individuals who always put other human beings first and will absolutely focus on the unique issues facing women in our society and our world.
Or maybe this is typical for the GOP, and has been for a long time. And now they are in power. And they don’t even feel a need to try to adjust the optics. And what do we see? This picture.
THIS IS THE PATRIARCHY IN ACTION!!!
P.S. Happy Women’s History Month, courtesy of the Grand Ol’ Party.
The Endless Files 