What is it that women want in the leaders of their nation, senate, congress, state, legislature, delegates and others elected or appointed? This author cannot speak for the multitudes of women, but this one looks for someone who epitomizes some of the 14 basic leadership traits: justice, judgement, dependability, integrity, decisiveness, tact, initiative, enthusiasm unselfishness, courage, knowledge, loyalty and endurance.
One has to ask how does one work in Washington, D.C. in any government job and not be aware of the rules of law as they pertain to protecting a person from things such as sexual harassment? What is going on in Washington, DC with the sudden uprise in reports of sexual harassment/assault? This is the headquarters of our military, legislature, treasury and cultural epicenters as well as the seat of our elected officials, the highest court in our land. How can our military, civilian employees, contractors and others who conduct business in our nation’s capital believe in our system of human resources, reporting systems, our legal systems if these crimes are going unreported until they reach a boiling point? What is it with the women in D.C. who do not report these crimes in this day and age, especially when they are so empowered to walk down the National Mall wearing larger than life vaginas on their head complete with labia minora and labia major. If women are so strong, empowered, vocal, and want a woman to reside in the Executive Residence of the White House, should they not be speaking up and leading in their current roles of employment within all branches, limbs and twigs of our government agencies? Maybe this lack of reporting comes from a source of fear: losing one’s job, position, respect, status, and so forth? Then how can we have these women in leadership roles in D.C. controlling the day to day dynamics and interactions between our military personnel if they cannot keep their figurative and literal houses, chambers and offices in order? Is there some facet in the nature of women where we want to be perceived as the victim in the workplace so we can play both sides of the fence, and run to whichever side we want to hide out in when convenient? Maybe this is a symptom of why so many women wanted Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the first woman elected to the presidency; she was not the first woman to run for the office of president. The first woman who ran for president lived in 1884.
Is there some correlation in how women vote and how they act in the workplace? Hillary Rodham Clinton, while a young law student, researched ways to not only protect the rights of the accused, but to gain reduced sentences. The first major feather in her cap while working in a legal aid clinic in Arkansas was to get a child rapist off on the charges he was accused of, by losing evidence and attacking the victim. Was Clinton really the kind of woman that American women want in the highest position within our government?
Clinton and her husband repeatedly made political aspirations a priority over morals and ethics, moving state residencies only to win the poor vote, having scandalous affairs and ruining the most vital aspects of an aspiring young intern.
Turning the attention away from women, where are these men who supposedly love, honor, respect, women and have daughters of their own? Why are these men not saying, behaving, and leading in the workplace in manner that is consistent with the environment in which they would want their spouses or daughters to live and work?
Is the issue that men are so afraid that women are strong, capable, and brave that the only way to trip them up is by debasing them through sexually overt acts and language? If women behaved towards men in the manner some men behave toward some women, they would be deemed aggressive and very likely whores or sluts.
Women marched for women’s rights which really did not need to be marched for, but where are these voices when it comes to real injustices in the workplace? Having served in two branches of the military I found my first branch of service and duty stations enjoyably challenging, a stellar amount of teamwork, and full of many opportunities, mostly before Tailhook. My second branch of service I found to be quite the opposite a lot of division, a lot of sexual tension; in the midst of William Jefferson Clinton’s DADT, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Sure no one was allowed to ask other servicemembers about their private and intimate sex lives, but that was exactly what it did, opened the door wide open for dissention among the ranks. It was easy for men to hide any deviation from acceptable norms, but if a woman was professional and left her personal life at the gate when she came to work there was no middle ground, she was either a lesbian or a whore. Of course, the more graphic epithets were often used, for the shock factor.
What is it that Americans want America to do about sexual assault and sexual harassment? Change has to start on the Homefront! What are parents teaching in the homes? Why is everyone so concerned about what is under another person’s clothing? Why is it that we need to advertise our sex lives in public view in order to make others feel comfortable? After all we have laws that protect the right to privacy of sex between consenting adults, so why must one be compelled to wear a label, a banner, or a line of demarcation?
Maybe we should leave the adults to battle with their own perversions in the workplace and stop littering the newsfeed with things that should be handled by Human Resources within their respective offices. Maybe we should turn our concerns toward our children and the momentum that is being gained in an effort to legalize pedophilia? Momentum is being gained to classify pedophilia as a sexual orientation, it has already been done in California. California has also taken the lead to enable child sex slave/prostitutes to remain on the streets and make money for pimps and other abusers. Where is our government in protecting the rights of children, those without a voice, and without a platform or news camera? How much more damage do we have to impose on our children, grandchildren, and
Great grandchildren? When will we return to a nation that was more cohesive, creative, courageous, daring, brave in tackling and achieving the impossible? Maybe for all the external journeys into space and into the salty depths, we should to the turn that headlights of exploration inward to the murky depths of our hearts and souls and be brave to show our sameness and less of our differences.
Maybe a few words from Marianne Williamson:
Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson
it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
Sabrina Lemons
smlemons@vwu.edu
