If You Don't Consent, Say "NO"!

In 1858, Ernestine Rose addressed a "Free Convention" in Rutland, Vermont.  Especially concerned about women's participation, she declared that if they did not speak out, "Silence implies consent.  It is high time the ladies learned to say No.  Therefore if you mean yes, say yes; and if you mean no, say no; though you find yourself in a minority of one."

Rose was more isolated in her day than we are in ours.  As both the president- and vice president-elect proclaim that they want to reverse Roe v. Wade, prevent funding for contraception much less abortion, and urge states to require "burials" for miscarriages and abortions, it is time for us to say NO!  There are a number of ways to do this.  Give donations to Planned Parenthood, NARAL, the Center for Reproductive Rights, or NOW.  Many have done so in Mike Pence's name.  Join the Women's Marches around the nation on the day after inauguration, January 21, 2017.  I'll be in the New York one, which assembles at noon at Union Square and will march up 5th Avenue to Trump Tower.  Write your representatives, and here actual letters and phone calls are more effective than emails or digital petitions. We can affect political decisions that will shape women's lives.  Outlawing abortions does not mean the end of abortions, it just means the end of safe abortions.  Do we want women to die as they did before Roe v. Wade?  If you mean "no," say NO!

Living in Difficult Times

Ernestine Rose said "The most hopeless condition is that when a patient loses all sensation of pain or suffering."  In other words, the ability to feel badly is the first step towards remedying a situation by changing it.  Time to start fighting back, by demonstrating, writing, and speaking, as she did all her adult life. 

Older Women

We have had it easier than younger people adjusting to this dreadful election.  I'm old enough to remember '68 when Nixon was elected.  And Reagan, and the Bushes.  We lived through that and we'll make it through this, remembering that we're still stronger together.  Ernestine Rose provides an inspiring example: she fought all her adult life for women's rights, abolition of slavery, and free thought.  She lived to see the nominal end of slavery and some gains for women, but not the vote.  She never gave up.

"Agitate!"

For most of her 82 years, Ernestine Rose fought for women’s rights – especially the vote.  She never lived to see it, but she also never gave up.  “'Agitate! agitate!' Ought to be the motto of every reformer.  Agitation is the opposite of stagnation – the one is life, the other death,” she proclaimed.  She spoke out and organized, petitioned and wrote.  Her efforts helped bring about future gains and can inspire us to forge ahead now.

 

The Election

Ernestine Rose's older friend and ally, Lucretia Mott, said of the women's rights movement:  "Any great change must expect opposition because it strikes at the very foundation of privilege,:"  One good thing that I think has come out of this dreadful campaign is that women have begun to discuss the persistent sexual harassment in their lives. La lutta continua!