This is Not a Drill

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Unrolled thread
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1581340582231699458.html

🧵1. A post on FB…

“I am 14 and I’m struggling in algebra class. When I ask for help, the male teacher says, ‘I’m not surprised girls aren’t that good at algebra’.

I am 18 and go to my first fraternity party with girlfriends…

2. … we don’t ever say it out loud but it’s understood that we need to stick together at these parties and not get separated, for our own safety.

I’m 20 and I’m working as a hostess at the Red Lion Inn in San Jose, near the airport. …

3. Men in suits come in to eat after their meetings during the day and I see them takeoff their wedding rings before heading into the bar next to the restaurant. Every girl who works there learns quickly not to bend too far over because of the short skirts of our uniforms.

4. I’m 22 and it’s my first day on a new job. My male supervisor gets me into a room alone and I think he’s going to tell me about the job but instead he tells me about how much he likes sex and how he needs to have it every day. I get up and walk out of the room…

5. … and avoid him after that, but I don’t tell anyone because I’m one of the only women there and I don’t know what to do.

Im 24 and I’m watching Anita Hill on TV, testifying about a man who wants to be on the Supreme Court.

6. I don’t understand everything I’m watching but I understand that she’s a black woman facing down a panel of white men and she is going to lose because, at 24, I do understand who has power and who does not.

7. I’m any age in my 20s and I’m walking on the street, in a park, in a city, in a suburb, anywhere. Men tell me to smile, to wait a minute, to slow down what’s my hurry, can I ask you a question, can I stand too close to you, can I demand your space,…

8. …your time, your attention, hey where you going bitch?

I’m 25. I’m buying my first car and the salesman offers a price I know is way too high. I bring my stepdad to the showroom and the same car is now $3000 less. I smile and buy the car but inside I’m seething.

9. I am any age in my 30s and I think about where I park, where I go, whether I should get in that elevator that only has one man in it and how I should be sure not to make eye contact with men in the streets. All of this is normal to me and I don’t question any of it.

10. I’m 35. I’m buying my second car and the salesman said we should wait for my husband to get there before talking about the price but would I like to see the makeup mirror? I tell him I’m a lesbian and if he’s waiting for my husband, he’s gonna be waiting a long time…

11. … I leave, because I’m learning.

I’m 40 and a woman, Hillary Clinton, is taking a serious run at the Democratic Presidential Nomination . She’s smart, tough and qualified but she endures endless anger, viciousness and misogyny and she eventually loses in the primary…

12. Male friends tell me it’s probably for the best because there’s just something they don’t like about her, you know?

I’m 49 and a man who said he grabs women by the pussy is elected as the 45th President of the United States. The night of the election, I feel physically ill..

13. … and my 1st conscious thought is, ‘my god, the Supreme Court’. The next morning, I overhear two men laughing and congratulating each other about the election and I feel unsafe in my own country.

I am 51 and another man who stands credibly accused of sexual assault…

14. … has just been confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court. I see women on television sobbing, screaming, protesting, crying out in their anguish and their fear. I am so angry. I think of every woman I know and I am so angry.

15. I am any age, every age. I am a woman. I am a daughter. I am discounted. I am underrepresented. I am underestimated. But I am a voter. Today, that has to be enough”

~Author Unknown

[TigressDem]

1. This is the story of too many women in America. Shudder. nt

[Unwind Your Mind]

24. I'm a few years younger than this writer but

Yes, this resonates very much

[Rebl2]

43. Not only in

America but for many countries in the world.

[Cozmo]

57. This is the story of EVERY woman

[question everything]

2. ..

[MoonlightHillFarm]

3. Thank you

I am a 74 year old woman. Thank you for posting this. It breaks my heart.

[Nevilledog]

4. ...

[calimary]

37. I'm almost there myself, and I'm demanding to know WHEN DOES THIS END???

When are we finally OVER this shit?

WHEN does this stop happening?

WHEN?


I can only do so much, as one person. But women are now make up the undeniable majority of the population of the United States of America. If WE bond together and demand action, the 150+ million of us might be able to move the mountain.

The ONE thing that keeps me going is the knowledge (hell, the GUARANTEE!) that what the other side wants more than anything is for somebody like me to get discouraged and give up. And shut up already. And stop bothering them about this "annoying nuisance issue".

Which is why I will NEVER give them that satisfaction. NEVER. NOT EVER.

[cate94]

5. Too true

I’ve seen all this and more. Vote!

[betsuni]

6. K&R

[stopdiggin]

7. powerful. well done. -(nt)-

[Sky Jewels]

8. I relate to every single word of this.

I had these experiences too. Over and over.

[Meadowoak]

41. As a gay man, I've had the same experiences as the poster.

[Sky Jewels]

48. ...

[frogmarch]

9. Wow, great! Perfect!

I'm lucky because ...I am 13 and after Sunday dinner at home with our invited guests, my mom stands up from the table and starts clearing dishes while giving my sister and me a "Come on, girls" look, and my dad says, "Come join us in a visit, lasses. Later, we men can do the dishes."

[calimary]

38. How WUNNNNNNNNNNNderful!

[frogmarch]

44. and it was 1956!

My dad was a champion of women's rights. He was ahead of his time in many ways, and he was kind. I miss him.

[DET]

10. Powerful - So Well Said

Every woman can relate to this. Older women, even more so.

[ancianita]

11. No. Indeed, it's not. Thank you for this post.

[Nevilledog]

19. ...

[Deuxcents]

12. Yes! Today it is enough. I mailed my midterm ballot yesterday

And I expect to make a difference. Really good post..thank you w/ my jaw tight ✊

[peggysue2]

13. Universal

If you're a woman and if you're honest with yourself, you completely identify with this. Because it's our sister song. We've lived it. We wince, we nod our heads, sometimes we shout and wail. We know it's true. Because it's us, our experience, our lives in 15 stanzas.

And yes, I too am a voter. My choice, my voice, my anger.

The Unknown Author? It's me. It's you. It's all of us.

VOTE!

[crickets]

33. Yes. We've lived it. It is our sister song. It's me. It's you. It's all of us. So well said. nt

[ShazzieB]

14. I am 72, and I pull into a parking space to eat a sandwich I just bought at the drive-thru.

I make sure the windows are up and the doors are all locked before I push my seat back and start eating. Even though it is broad daylight, and I'm in an area near my home where mugging and assaults are virtually unheard of, decades of living female have conditioned me to feel that I should never get too relaxed in a public place without a locked door between me and the rest of the world.

Old habits die hard.

[Ms. Toad]

15. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook,

And two random men responded by asking to become her friends. One said he was posting on the thread because she had blocked his friend request.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

16. Now the Extreme Court sanctions further terrorism against women and girls.

[Hekate]

17. I am 75 & this brings tears to my eyes. Starting with gutting the Voting Rights Act, this SCOTUS...

… has been undoing every single thing I have ever worked for in my life, and they are not done yet.

They must be stopped — and the only conceivable way is by electing Democrats up and down the ballot.

[brer cat]

18. K&R

[Wounded Bear]

20. K & R...nt

[Delmette2.0]

21. I'm 70 and I know their games.

I sent my son to get quotes on a new set of tires. He came back with three. I know I would have gotten only one, the most expensive.

I don't have time for their shit and my son wants the right kind of tires for me.

[Talitha]

22. K&R

[Tommymac]

23. Women, This November You Know What To Do

Link to tweet

Women, This November you know what to do [Cartoon of woman kicking a republican man in the testicle.]

#GOTV2022
#ROEVEMBER2022
#BLUEWAVE2022
#VOTEBLUE2022

[yellowdogintexas]

50. that blue wave with the dancer is just gorgeous!

[Lonestarblue]

25. And the really sad thing is that millions of women buy into the misogyny.

They believe that men are just smarter than women, that their husbands know more about business and politics and will tell them how to vote, that a woman’s “natural” place is as a mother raising children, that men are the domestic rulers. Socially, politically, and economically (with severe income inequality), we are regressing as a nation. I don’t know what the catalyst is to stop that regression.

[Delphinus]

29. I know.

And I don't know how to stop that regression either.

[ancianita]

39. Not really. They're groomed into it from childhood.

The grooming of free will comes with adapting to misogynist systems (other groomed women, girls, moms, and exposure to male run religion, families, law, medicine, social and economic inequity, etc), and so they live thinking they have free will when it's really been groomed out of them.

[sop]

47. "Grooming"

Very apt use of the word.

[Hortensis]

26. Nonsense that today voting is all we can do. Women have never been

as empowered, in spite of the repeal of Roe. Refusing to acknowledge power because indulgence of grievance feels better, and requires no action or courage, is to abandon power and invite abuse -- for self and others.

But of course vote, like your life could depend on it. Because it really could. The Republican pandemic showed how the RW powers really "value" life, and especially of those no longer producing profits.

And summon your inner Pelosi and say no to abuse when it shows up because by FAR-FAR the biggest part of the job can only be done by people living their principles.

[calimary]

40. OOOOOOOhhhh, I LOVE that! "Summon your inner Pelosi"!!!

Holy Cannoli you're good, Hortensis!

"Summon your inner Pelosi"!

I am going to find a way to use that in our weekly Call to Action email, in one way or other.

[BonnieJW]

52. You're right

I'm 73. In 1970, I was newly married and living in an apartment building in Richmond, Virginia. My neighbors had just had a baby and we became friends.

Susan told us that she was an elementary school teacher but was fired when she became pregnant. She was told it was policy in Virginia that teachers could not work when pregnant. She sued the state and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. It took 10 years but she won. By that time, she'd had a second baby.

Yes, you can do more than vote.

[Permanut]

27. Thanks Nevilledog..

Powerful post. This 74 year old male would like to send all of these jerks, harassers, misogynists and sexists to an island. And I have another idea for those men who assault and rape; I told my wife I'd like to have my own "re-education" camp for them.

[Mr.Bill]

28. I'm a 69 year old man

And I never treated a woman that way or put her in that position.

But I saw other men do it and usually did nothing about it and I'm feeling terrible about that.

[Ruby Zee]

30. I am a senior citizen

I identify with and have experienced all of this. Vote like your life depends on it!

[SouthernLiberal]

31. I had a horrible math teacher

As far as I could tell, he didn't think that girls should take advanced math. If he asked a question, and the whole class raised hands, he picked a boy. If a boy gave a wrong answer, he just asked the question again.

He only called on girls when we did not raise our hands, or if any girl did not raise her hand. We got no credit for a correct answer, but if we gave a wrong answer, it was because girls were not good at math.

That was my junior year, and I ended up with an A in the class. As usual, only the guys who ended up going to the military academy's did better. I was looking forward to calculus, until I found out that the calculus teacher had left, and the "girls aren't good at math" guy. So I didn't take calculus.

[MLAA]

34. Wow

[llmart]

35. +1000

For every episode of my life where I dealt with some jerk of a guy who thought I was less than because I was female. Change the specifics of each of the 15 points and I can relate to all of them and then some. I'm 73. I've lived with that crap for far too long. It needs to stop for my daughter and my granddaughter.

I'm a lifelong voter - Democratic every.single.time. I was involved in the second wave of the feminist movement from the time I was 16. I can't believe this shit still goes on.

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. This makes me angry and sad at the same time.

[onetexan]

42. Such a great posting!! As a woman in the tech field i've felt discounted, underrepresented and

underestimated all my career. For most of my career i was the only female techie on a team of males. I've experienced varying forms of backhanded compliments, demeaning subtle remarks, sarcastic comments, belittling, disrespect, arrogance... from men who either lack EQ or are chauvanistic jerks. Us women have to be twice as good to even be considered equals. We're in the 21st century & it's still a man's world.

[IbogaProject]

45. Ugh why did I learn this stuff so late

Last edited Sun Oct 16, 2022, 09:21 PM - Edit history (1)

My co-ed fraternity had such a strong and consistent rep as safe for single woman once when an actual false claim was made it was doubted w cause. We had none of those issues and we did have to protect inebriated women from shady guys on occasion. I've only picked up on the depth of these issues reading the xxchromisome reddit. I hope we can continue to reduce the frequency of those bad acts and increase the consequences.

[love_katz]

46. I was 18, and my college advisor told me to "go home and have babies "!!!-

I can remember the cat calling when I had to walk alone on the street, even in broad daylight. I began voting about 50 years ago, and I have NEVER voted republican. I will remember in Roevember and I fervently hope that the majority of us do exactly that. Vote the repukes out of office everywhere, every last one of them. Deliver the kick to their genitals that they so richly deserve!!!

[WVreaper]

49. I AM A VOTER!

To all of the females out there, do not forget that, and do not let anyone take that away from you.

[FakeNoose]

51. I hope many parents are reading this thread

And I mean parents of BOYS as well as GIRLS.

How we raise and teach our children has more effect on the next generation than any other single thing.

[JoeOtterbein]

53. K n R ! Thanks for posting!

One of the most insightful articles I have ever read!

[NickB79]

54. #14.5: Lost the right to control her own reproductive system

[niyad]

55. Enraged KNR. I hoped that it would get bettter, at least for our younger sisters.

But I knew we were only one vote away from "The Handmaid's Tale". Only, we are NOT going quietly.

This nasty old persistent woman is ANGRY, OUTRAGED, DISGUSTED, and VOTING.

And channeling my inner Pelosi.

[Scrivener7]

56. This is too close, and it makes my heart hurt. Thank you for posting it.

I'll be sharing it widely.

[DemocraticPatriot]

58. Bad men wreck the curve

for those of us who do our best to be 'good guys'....