I can hear the sea of ‘Proud Americans’ just itching to bash me for that statement but before you spout off with, “Do you know how many people died for your freedoms?!” etc. hear me out.

I do love my country but more so the idea of it. By that I mean I love what my country could be but I’m greatly saddened by what she isn’t. I am well aware that many people have died fighting for my freedoms but they have and are fighting for freedoms that with each passing day I (as a woman especially) have less of; this to me is shameful.

I don’t want to live in this country because as a young woman I am afraid of what my life ten years from now is going to be. Will I have any control over my reproductive rights? Will I have any way to fight against men that beat/rape/assault me? Will basic health care be denied me? I fear these things because men that are a part of the Religious Right don’t seem to think that as a woman I am an intelligent, free thinking, deserving American citizen.

They think that because I desire birth control I’m a slut not because it can seriously help me be a healthier person. They seem to think that women have abortions for fun. They seem to think that I don’t need accessible healthcare. They seem to think that I need a man in my life to help me raise a child.

As women how can we allow these men to remain in office; these men that view us as second class citizens? How can we still listen in to their radio shows, watch their news casts, give them our votes when they call us (or allow others to) sluts for standing up for ourselves?

Women throughout the history of this nation have fought to be considered equals to men and I fear that we have been duped into thinking that battle has been over. It’s not. Our rights are quickly backsliding into the consuming fires of extreme conservatism and if we do nothing to stop this we should be afraid for not only our futures but the futures of the American women that will come after us.

Look at your daughters, your younger sisters, cousins, nieces, your friend’s daughters, and ask what kind of America, hell what kind of world, you want them to grow up in. If you want them to grown up under the heel of a man then by all means please sit back and watch the show. But if you want them to be empowered, independent, respected women please fight back.

Call your representatives, send emails, and write letters cry out to the administration of our nation, MAKE NOISE. Don’t vote republican (or democrat for that matter) because that’s just what you’ve always done, research these people; know who it is you are giving power to. Tell others to do the same.

We can control what the future brings and even if we don’t succeed we can at least go down fighting.