Women's Rights, Filibusters, and the Silence of Men.

After all of the events of today, I'm not gonna lie; I'm pretty damn disappointed in my male acquaintances/friends and facebook feed. There hasn't been a single mention on today's filibuster attempt over Texas' proposed new anti-abortion law. Which blows my mind since it blows up over every single political election, gay rights bill, anti-semitic incident, etc. And the only reasoning I can seem to get for it is women's rights are so little valued that hardly anyone even knows what is going on in Texas right now, or that women's rights are so little valued they don't care. To them it's just, "oh another anti-abortion law that women are freaking out about, old news; sides it doesn't affect me anyway so I don't care."

And that just makes it even worse. You don't have to be gay, black, or jewish to fight for their civil rights, but when it comes to women, most every man I know could care less because the issues don't affect them and therefore don't seem important.

So I'm just gonna back up and sketch you out an overview on what exactly this filibuster was fighting and what happened. Texas wants to pass a new anti-abortion law that makes it illegal to have an abortion after 20 weeks even if the woman has been raped. Christians are pushing this forward, and their reasoning for why it should be acceptable aside from religious grounds is that the fetus needs to be kept alive so its DNA can be used as evidence of the rape after it is born. So not only are the woman's rights being taken away while being raped, her government is now going to take away her rights by telling her she is an evidence locker and needs to keep that reminder inside her in order to prove her rape case. The rape kit, semen/DNA swabs are not enough. Oh wait, they completely forget that DNA can be taken from the fetus after the abortion is completed.

And don't even get me started on those male politicians trying to cover their ass by calling rape a "victimless crime," and saying that whether wanted or not, pleasure is had by both parties. Excuse me while I vomit.

Then we get into today's filibuster. Wendy Davis is our resident badass of the moment. Here's a basic definition pulled from the dictionary for those who don't know. Filibuster: a type of parliamentary procedure where debate is extended, allowing one or more members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal. It is sometimes referred to as talking out a bill,[1] and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body.

So when this happens, the speaker must speak, and only regarding specifically to the bill at hand, non stop for the length of the first session, without any break for water, food, restrooms, nor may they lean on the podium or have any support or rest from speaking. Now most men get away with breaking most of these rules and are able to still block the bill. The men today decided that she had to adhere to every single rule or would be forced to stop speaking. She wore pink tennis shoes, and wore a back brace to prevent her from leaning on anything and help support her back from lack of sitting or leaning. She had to speak for 13 hours. She was forced to stop speaking at 11 hours, not because she wasn't done, but because they forced her to stop. Saying that she had broken the rules by earlier wearing the back brace and straying from the topic. Even though technically, since the rules are all written using male pronouns, the rules don't legally apply to her.

After she was forced to stop speaking and removed from the room. The men started to vote and pass it. All of the women in the room started screaming in protest and I've read of reports of some arrests. It is currently unsure on whether or not they passed the bill or not. No one really knows what the heck is going on over there right now as it's pandemonium.

So...color me shocked when something this big is going on, and I can't find a single article on the front page of yahoo or anywhere on my social media sites other than on tumblr. Only The Huffington Post has an article on this. And makes no mention of what basically amounts to the riot happening inside though it was seen via the live feed streaming online. Who's being silenced? Who's being prevented from receiving accurate accounts of what's going on? Women. And you men. You may not care about our rights, but you always seem to care when the government is censoring your newsfeed.

Sweetness

I never consider myself to be a sweet girl. I'm often rude and irreverent. I tend to not be very nice. At least in my opinion. 

However, I've been told twice today that I am sweet. 

The first by a woman thanking me for adjusting her sunglasses. She asked how much it would be, and I told her nothing but the truth. Nothing. For we don't charge for that. In fact, no optometry offices do. At least none I've worked at or been to. This prompted her to tell me that I am "just the sweetest." Doing the bare minimum of my job hardly qualifies me as sweet. But I smiled and thanked her nonetheless. Seems strange to think that to her, my not charging for a two minute adjustment deems me as sweet in her eyes. 

The second time was as my favorite local hookah bar, from which I am currently typing from. My friend, or good acquaintance more like, is a waitress here. And randomly called me over to tell me that I am "so sweet." I asked her if she knew me at all in a joking manner. 

She proceeded to tell me her reasoning was that I was the only one at my regular table she liked anymore. Because everyone else has been nothing but drama lately, and she would like nothing more than to just come to work and work. Not get wrapped up in their daily dramatics. And she enjoys me so much because I am never involved, nor do I start any. I just come in, say hi, and smoke my hookah and read, before taking my leave with a hug goodbye. Truthfully, I had no idea and sort of drama was going on at my table. 

And as any introvert would, I sat back down and mulled this over, and found a completely different conclusion regarding myself; and it was not calling myself sweet. 

I figure my business is my own, and everyone else's their own. If someone needs to talk, I listen and give my objective advice. But I am never really included in any group. We only ever say hi and bye. Maybe exchange a few pleasantries. But no one gossips with me, invites me to hang out with the group, invites me to their birthday gatherings, etc. 

And while everyone else regards my knack for avoiding drama, which is deliberate; I also see the other side. I see it as lonely, and often downright hurtful. I don't seek anyone out, nor do they seek me out. 

I don't necessarily want a drama-filled life, surrounded by cattiness. But I think it would be nice to be sought out as a friend. If only to get lunch and catch up. To feel like they care, and would really miss me when I'm gone; that they enjoy my company. 

Then I remember that generally, people just exhaust me. And that for the most part, I truly enjoy flitting in and out of people's lives. Never getting sucked in or trapped in toxic relationships. Getting my fill of human interaction by occasionally observing from the sidelines before going home to my books, cat, and bed. 

Maybe I just want too much from people and yet no longer want to give up myself. I just know it's one of those times I feel lonely over it but not regretful. It's just not in my personality. I am too independent and don't need or want people around all of the time.