I don’t normally post political blogs. I recognize that everyone has a political opinion and it’s not my intention to turn my blog into a partisan rigmarole where people descend into their base natures, argue, insult, or condescend others. I want my blog to be fun and entertaining. Today, however, I’m sidestepping that rule just a bit.

Today is inauguration day. I say that with some grief.

I grew up believing that I could do anything. My parents never told me that I couldn’t or shouldn’t do something just because I was a girl. I may be the first generation where that’s the case. I’m proud of that fact. I am ambitious. I am goal oriented. I am a type A personality – those who know me will attest to this. The things I’ve accomplished in my life would not have been possible for my mother or her mother.

I came of age at a time where birth control was common practice and not something referenced as dirty or an abomination. I don’t understand the drastic swing on women’s health issues. That’s not true. I do understand it. It’s always about control. Rape can be about sex but it also can be about so many other things. Hatred. Power. Control. Dominance. Vanity. Just to name a few. Why would you bring up rape? You might ask. Well, it’s a symptom of a larger problem.

Women’s roles have changed in the last 30 or 40 years. More women are the primary breadwinner of their household (which sucks since women still make about 75 cents on the dollar to men). You want to help families and boost the middle class, pay women an equal wage. There are more women in the workforce today than in 1976 and with each passing year, more women are in leadership roles. Women have ambition. We are just as intelligent {if not more so} than men. You can’t tell women to go back into the kitchen and make me a sandwich. We aren’t wired that way anymore. We find fulfillment in many places. For some, that’s the corporate boardroom. For others, it’s the home. We are no longer defined by our sex.

Women are still objectified and a rape culture is still prevalent. I’m not sure if this culture of violence against women is getting worse or if women are stronger and refuse to accept blame, allowing them to come forward more often to report the incidents. I can’t answer that question. But again, the problem is control. We, as women, are no longer under the thumbs of our fathers and husbands. If you, as a politician, don’t like that; how do you stop it? You control anything you can…women’s reproductive rights.

Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”, signifies a return to simpler times when when the United States was…great. I ask you this. Are we not great now? Are we not always, though, striving to be the shining city on a hill? It’s not as if we achieved it and then fell into a black hole of despair. We have yet to reach the top of the hill. Our goal was always to move forward through expansion {an example is the Louisiana Purchase} and social change like Social security, Medicare, and the Voting Rights Act. Not back

This brings me back to my main point. Today is inauguration day. We, as a country, have elected a man who openly mocks people, harasses women, and has admitted to sexually assaulting women because he can. Tomorrow – January 21st – is the Women’s March on Washington. I won’t be able to go and I’m truly upset about this. It is very important for us as Americans, as women, and as mothers/daughters/sisters to stand up for the progress we’ve achieved. If you don’t like something that’s going on, speak up and out. Exercise your constitutional rights of assembly and petition. Call your congress person, join advocacy groups, donate your time and money to those causes that are important to you so they can fight on your behalf.

Today I will watch Trump’s inauguration address. Not because I am glad he’s our President, but because a well informed public is important and the best weapon against tyranny and the demise of democracy.