rise rīz/ verb
- Move from a lower position to a higher one; come or go up.
- reach a higher position in society or one’s profession.
- succeed in not being limited or constrained by (a restrictive environment or situation).
“The only way to move forward,” says Alex Ocasio-Cortez, in a recent stump speech in Michigan, campaigning for her democratic Congressional run, “We have to change for the better or for the worse because status quo is not an option anymore.”
Whether you agree with the dynamic 28-year-old’s political ideology, she is right about the status quo. Complacency is dead. Putin’s puppet made sure of that when he signed the order to open ICE’s child zoo. If we, as a nation and as individuals, want equality, we have to demand it—louder than the fossil fuel shareholders, louder than the climate deniers, louder than the xenophobes. Quite simply, it is time for women to speak out, have a voice on the stage that is heard.
But wait, you say, isn’t this a post-feminist world? Wasn’t 1992 the Congressional Year of the Woman? Aren’t we through with the Miss America bathing suit competition? Isn’t feminism passe, quaint, archaic? Not by a long shot, baby.
“The movement was given the name ‘feminism’ because it focuses on the gender inequality issues that impact women. Just like any other civil rights category, feminism is a term used to show that one supports women’s equality and wants to address the serious amount of gender discrepancies they face daily. It does not take away from other civil rights matters.” says Caroline Dory-Stein at the Progressive Women’s Leadership website.
Dory-Stein suggests the history of women’s rights evolves along the following trajectory:
The first wave of feminism (1830’s – early 1900’s) Women’s fight for equal contract and property rights: To open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage.
The second wave (1960’s-1990’s) Broadening the debate: In the context of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the growing self-consciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world. The New Left was on the rise.
The third wave (1990’s – present) The micropolitics of gender equality: We are still working to vanquish the disparities in male and female pay and the reproductive rights of women. We are working to end violence against women in our nation as well as others.
“Quite frankly,” Dory-Stein writes, “it all comes down to the dictionary’s very simple yet profound definition: ‘the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.’”
If we want that kind of equality for America, the time has come for an essential paradigm shift in the government. The biggest thing we can do to change the government is get women elected. Feminism has a fourth wave, a cyber presence, that envelopes gender and social equality. Women have got to stop staying silent amidst the imposition of oppression and authoritarianism, because the culture of oppression affects more of the American population than just women. In fact, it affects the nation’s majority. Civilization won’t make any significant progress until women can take the stage in their own right and exert their influence over ethics and the cultural understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong. Redressing the grievances will re-set the government priorities.
“Right now, 309 women, Republicans and Democrats alike, have filed candidacy papers to run for the House, eclipsing the previous record of 298 set in 2012, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University that AP analyzed.” And that number is likely to grow in the coming months, according to Vox. And that is important, because the American electorate was reaching for change in the last election, but change that represents social, economic, and racial dignity.
What would it mean to America to have an equal female representation in Congress? What does the failure of the passage of the ERA mean to American women? How should Congressional and Senatorial legislation about birth control, abortion and women’s right to choose be addressed? What about Roe v. Wade? Women in the workforce? “Having it all”? Does the #MeToo movement strike the right chord at the right time? How does the movement reflect the sexual revolution?
For this issue, we seek poetry, stories, and essays that recognize and respond to how the rise of women’s issues affects our perceptions and worldview—ideological, environmental, political, scientific, societal, global. We seek writing that starts the conversation about this new world order as we are coming to know it. As Canary poetry editor Gail Entrekin shares so eloquently in an article about the impact of art: “I believe that there are other occasional readers who are just now receiving this news in a visceral way that argument and scientific information have not been able to impart.” Share a piece that exemplifies a cause you are passionate about. Remind readers of the simple things that freedom ensures. Pay attention to the details of a thriving society. A solid civilization and vibrant community look to art for their inspiration.
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