Day 11

Day 11

March 11th, 2009

30-Day Challenge

Picture submitted by: Dianne Beale

A Toast for Two Ladies

I am not a feminist who quibbles over petty issues.  I do not believe in the woman’s right to choose; I believe in humanity’s right to life.  I do not believe in tearing down men, I believe in building up women.  I will not settle for anything less than living up to my potential.  The only human to stop me will be myself.  This is the kind of feminist I am.

I love my men.  I want them strong, able, and wise.  He needs to be strong, if he wants me to follow.  I am a strong woman willingly following a strong man.  There is no weaker partner.  This is the kind of feminist I am.

I am proud to be a woman.

I strive to be a woman worth remembering.  Who do I admire?  I do not look up to Susan B. Anthony, or Margaret Sanger, or Mary Wollstonecraft.  They may have broken down many walls, but I do not look up to them.  I look up to older—and greater—women.  Two sisters, whose names we hear every time we hear the American pledge of allegiance.  Think a moment, and you will remember them.  “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”  Did you see them?  I admire Lady Liberty and Lady Justice.  What women could I admire more?

Whose gracious figure do you see on every judicial wall, scales upheld, blind to status, gender, race, or religion?  No longer worshipped, we still respect Lady Justice.  Worldwide, her sword and scales are the symbol of Law and Order.  She is tall, stately, and wise.  Unfeeling, unbending, unwavering—her image presides over the court.  I strive to be a woman full of justice.  Though I cannot be blind or unfeeling, I can be strong.

And who can forget her sister, Lady Liberty?  For years, people have sung songs, written poetry.  She holds aloft her torch, thrusting it heavenward, champion of enlightenment.  She strides forward, never still, never stagnant.  Crowned with seven rays, she gazes out at the world.  Her face, features stern, displays beauty at its highest.  She is Lady Liberty, the Enlightener, the Chain-breaker, the Mother of Exiles.

Side by side, these sisters walk the world over, symbols of freedom and of justice.  Nations love them, states respect them, people praise them.  Who cannot love these symbols, these metaphors of greatness?  Yet some do not.  I wonder, sometimes, how they will fall.  And if they fall, when?  Will they fall prey to the hands of terrorists, torn down and raped by those who hate them?  Or will they slowly deteriorate, falling away, forgotten by the wayside?  But I digress.

These ladies, I admire.  If I will be a feminist, I will exhibit the qualities admired in these women.  If I will stand for something, it will be justice.  If I will stride forward, ready to fight, it will be for freedom and enlightenment.  See, feminism should never be about petty jealousy toward men.  It should not be about jealousy at all.  It should be about justice and liberty, about basic rights and human dignity.  It should be about life, and work, and dignity.  It should be, in short, about justice and liberty.

Here’s to Liberty and Justice . . . for all.