Looks like a good Turnout for the Women’s Marches yesterday.  I applaud the aims and goals.  I saw some of the speeches online and a few were fantastic.  If you haven’t already check out Halsey’s poem and Octavia Spencer’s speech.  Both are stellar. I heard many commentators saying that the overall turnout bodes well for the midterm elections.   Well, while that’s hopefully true there’s a possible fly in the ointment.  It’s the same fly that bit us in the ass during the last election.  White women.

There’s been a lot made of the 53% of white women who voted for Trump.  However, among non-college educated women, it was a whopping 62%.  The majority of working class white women voted for a candidate who had a decidedly anti-woman agenda.  There is no doubt multiple reasons why, some based on fear, some in misinformation. Most working class women I spoke to, and it was quite a few, said they just didn’t care for Hillary.  When I asked them why they couldn’t really give me a specific reason.  It was usually just a parroting of Fox news talking points.

There was one occasion where I and a co-worker had a serious nonconfrontational political discussion.  There were a lot of facts she just hadn’t heard yet.  Everyone else she knew has bought into the Right’s skewed facts so all she heard was anti-Clinton propaganda.  After we spoke, she had gone home and done her own research online. She came back and whispered to me a few days later. “I’m not voting for Trump. Hillary’s a better candidate”  This was not a popular opinion in the town we live in, Trump won here with almost 80% of the vote hence the whispered aside.  Once presented with verifiable facts, she made up her own mind.

Now, none of us may have voted for Trump.  Given the staggering numbers, someone we know did.  In years past who someone voted for really wasn’t an issue for me. Politics were separate from life and family, no big deal.  If you’re a woman, LGBT, a person of color, disabled…hell anything but a straight white man, who you vote for can have really dire consequences.  With the stakes so high, we need to start talking to each other.  We need to start talking to other women.  I’m not sure many are aware of how their votes affected people at risk.  Families will have to choose between healthcare and food.  Millions of children with life-threatening medical conditions have no health insurance right this second.  Their vote has very serious real-world ramifications for others.  We need to make this clear.

So talk to your mother. Have a chat with your sister, your cousins, friends…anyone at risk for voting Republican.  Let them know that they are affecting the lives of other women and children.  Not just “affecting” but causing real harm.  We have a chance to effect some positive change in the coming months.  Do what you can to show the people you love, and who love you how much good they can do.