Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Letter: The fight for women’s rights is far from over

(Judith Gibson-Okunieff/ Daily Collegian)

With a new presidential administration threatening to take away what progressives have fought tooth and nail to achieve, there is no time to rest. Turnouts at the international Women’s Marches on Jan. 21 were impressive and inspiring, but just showing up once is not enough. Resistance must be continuous to be successful. There are two approaches to making change: legislatively and socially. Progress on one front is useless without progress on the other.

On the legislative front, the current speaker of the house Paul Ryan has promised to defund Planned Parenthood. This action will not only restrict abortion access but will also restrict access to contraceptives, screening for STDs, cancer and health and wellness education. In opposition, Americans have been showing their support for Planned Parenthood through monetary donations and calls to legislators.

Harder to oppose are the messages that the White House is sending implicitly. Our president has sexual assault allegations against him and has explicitly joked about it. He has made lewd and demeaning comments about women’s appearances. If this is accepted as normal, what are we telling women? That it is okay to be treated like objects? What are we telling men? That it is fine to rape or joke about it? To counteract this message, we need to reaffirm women’s worth and we need to condemn sexist rhetoric in our day-to-day lives. The values of the Oval Office may be anti-woman, but that doesn’t mean we must accept it.

There is an opportunity coming up here on campus to show your support for women’s rights and liberation. Wednesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day and the Coalition to Resist Trump’s Policies at UMass is leading a march. It will begin at noon outside the Fine Arts Center and conclude at the lawn between the Student Union and the Integrative Learning Center. That night, at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center, there will be an informational panel about women’s resistance. Consider going to these events to show your support for women, and continue to resist the oppressive policies and rhetoric from the Trump administration.

Sincerely,

Olivia Comeau

View Comments (8)
More to Discover

Comments (8)

All Massachusetts Daily Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 27, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    You CANNOT say you are for women’s rights without addressing the flagrant abuse of women in Islam:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-zWq_Xzw_g

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 10, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    When is rape not rape? When it’s committed by Islamist migrants. Women, you are being sold down the river. Thinking people have the ability to learn from the experiences of others.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbXZ6uWEsAQ

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 9, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    You’re worried about abortion. There are larger concerns.

    Brigitte Gabriel on True Women’s Rights
    https://youtu.be/gTkG6PKnNFw

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 8, 2017 at 9:47 am

    @Attila: Got to keep the women on the left’s plantation, so scare ’em.

    To all the attendees of this event:

    You DO know that one of the organizers, Rasmea Odeh, is a terrorist who was in jail for over a decade for murdering Israelis?

    You DO know that one of the platform planks is taking the side of the Arabs who want to wipe Israel out?

    What is WITH YOU PEOPLE for siding with Islamists who put women into mobile tents, beat wives, rape captive women?

    Why Don’t Feminists Fight for Muslim Women?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJkFQohIKNI

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 7, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    You object to women being raped (an unqualified bad thing) and treated as objects (another unqualified bad thing) yet want more and more Islamic refugees of the same caliber as have turned Sweden into the Rape Capital of Europe and made women all across Europe afraid to go out.

    America Snoozing
    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265784/america-snoozing-bruce-bawer
    ** Written by a gay man now living in Europe.

    Sweden: Rape Capital of the West
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5195/sweden-rape
    ** And rivaling only Lesotho as “Rape Capital of the World”

    Migrant rape fears spread across Europe: Women told not to go out at night alone after assaults carried out in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland amid warnings gangs are co-ordinating attacks
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3390168/Migrant-rape-fears-spread-Europe-Women-told-not-night-assaults-carried-Sweden-Finland-Germany-
    Austria-Switzerland-amid-warnings-gangs-ordinating-attacks.html

    Reply
  • D

    DenverMar 7, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Seems to any thinking person that women in America have every right everyone else has. There is nothing they cannot do. There is nothing they are forbidden from doing that others are not also forbidden.

    So show that cleavage in good cheer, like Emma Watson.

    Good day.

    Reply
  • A

    Atilla the HunMar 7, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    You submit, as a fact, that “access to contraceptives, screening for STDs, cancer and health and wellness education,” will be restricted. What is your foundation for this assertion? Is this merely rhetorical high dudgeon, or can you point to some real threat to restriction to contraception, etc?

    Reply
  • P

    Palin SmithMar 7, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    Muslims will ensure that women’s rights revert back to the Stone Age. Female genital mutilation ensures women will be only brood stock.

    Reply