The Tailgate Society

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What was the Women’s March all about?

What was the Women’s March all about?

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When I woke up on Saturday morning, I didn’t want to go. The snow was pounding down outside, and my hips ached from the cold dampness of it all. Idaho is a red state, and it was possible that like lots of other events, this would be 300 people shivering together on the statehouse steps. I waffled about it for an hour. Going alone wasn’t appealing. Neither was being out in the frozen monochromatic wasteland this city has turned in to. Finally, seeing the pictures roll in from the east and remembering the women before me who marched and got their right to vote and their rights to own their own bodies motivated me enough to put on my big boots and head downtown

[/media-credit] Idaho Capitol building, with mountains barely visible through the storm.

I could hear them before I could see them, even with the snow dampening the sound.

[/media-credit] Gathering in the park across from the Capitol steps – Boise, ID

Approaching, I was stunned to see so many men. It made me grin broadly to see so many badass women and their children. Even with the presence of one small group of counter protestors, it was a positive environment. The signs were funny and pointed and perfect.

[/media-credit] “We should be shedding walls, not building them”
[/media-credit] L to R: (translated): “I decide what goes in and out of my p*ssy”; “If I wanted the government in my uterus, I’d f*ck a senator”
[/media-credit] “Hey girl, together we can close the healthcare gap!”
[/media-credit] “Respect existence or expect resistance”
[/media-credit] “I’m with her”

The speakers were great. Everyone was great. It felt like something important was happening. Though, right now, I’m struggling to name it. We made our displeasure known. It was a display of intersectional feminism that this country really hasn’t ever seen, even in parts of the country where that kind of thing isn’t thought about much. In Boise, the snow fell and it didn’t matter because we were coming together to make a larger point – that we won’t be silenced, we aren’t going away or giving up rights already won. It’s surreal to realize we’re now in an era where that is necessary. There were all races represented, all sexes, all viewpoints. It was beautiful, in that way that America always portrays herself.

[/media-credit] I admit, I did bail early. You can’t give me a folk band trying to lead protest songs and wet feet and expect me to last more than 30 seconds without seeking the nearest bar stool. Heretic Brewing’s Incubus Imperial Stout was pretty damn great. The guy walking around the bar using the opening line “I didn’t know this parade was going on but its a pretty great day for picking up chicks!” was less great.

I left downtown trying to process what had just happened. If we, as Americans, can keep this momentum going into elections, then things are bound to get better. There are a lot of people who won’t be silenced by the myriad of lies and twisted narratives that have already begun coming through the media from the Trump White House. Who will fight for freedom for people who don’t always look/talk/think like them? We all have individual experiences, but not trying to modify behavior to make others comfortable is a point where both sides can agree on the problem. Maybe even on a few basic facts – like how making things illegal is not the same as making them go away. It’s possible that today was about finding the new baseline. America the diverse and open-minded did not go away on January 20th – it could be that today was about underlining that fact to those who feel like they have won the culture wars.

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