Statistics: Media Rage

Okay, so first of all, note to anyone: Don't interview people just after reading disturbing statistics and being pissed off at the media, because it will only lead your older interviewee to chuckle and look at you as if you were a child learning to walk.

Pearly is the woman I interviewed. She is much past forty-five, but with mischief in her eyes wouldn't tell me how much past. She is the mother of my manager at Lane Bryant and an African American. She worked to support her family through several deadbeat male significant others at a time when women "just didn't do that sort of thing" she was fighting multiple oppression due to her gender and her race, but she didn't have the option of doing anything else. She constantly had to ignore men's ignorance and rude behavior from downright cruelty and sexual harassment, to the discourtesy of not even saying her name properly, but through this she has not become bitter. She is a loving caring, active member of her community. She has decided, however, that though she will vote, the fights of feminism are for the young. She claims to have fought her battles and has encouraged myself and her daughter (who is in her forties) that it is now our burden to bear and the future of respect for our gender (and their race) is up to us.

After the doing the reading I quoted her some of the arguments against feminism, those of our inability to cope with the responsibilities we fought for, and what the media had to say and while she couldn't recall having read a lot of them at the time, she said she wasn't surprised. She said of course the media and government want us to believe that the fight is over because they don't want to change. They don't want harder competition and the like.

Personally, I'm angry that I didn't realize these things were said. I'm angry that our budgets keep getting smaller and smaller. And I'm angry that I've let myself be duped in to thinking we're almost to equality when we're still so far from it.