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On March 8th, International Women’s Day, women across the globe were told to resign from a day of work in an effort to show the world what it would look like if women were suddenly not around. Along with this request, there were two “easier” options to show support for those who could not afford, quite literally, to take the day off. The options included wearing red and simply not shopping or only shopping at local, women-owned shops. And the affirmation for the day? “A day without a woman reaffirms our commitment to the principles of unity which were collaboratively outlined for the women’s march”.—Women’s March on Washington

There are two parts to this request that can be seen as problematic. The first being that while this was a day to show unity amongst women, it excluded a large number of them. I consider myself to have a decent job, with somewhat decent benefits regarding paid days for vacation or sick time. I work at a liberal university, in a liberal office, with very liberal colleagues. The majority of my office participated in the Women’s March. Several of us regularly wear “pro-feminist” hats, pins, and t-shirts to work without a second-thought as to what others would think. We share news articles with anti-trump, pro-abortion, and general “wtf is happening” messages. If any office were to be expected not to show up on March 8, it would have been us.

And yet, everyone showed up. In fact, there wasn’t even a discussion about whether or not any of us would take the day off. Two of us wore red, and that was that. And quite truthfully, I can’t explain why i didn’t skip. I just didn’t. I could have, but i didn’t. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I decided I wanted to save those vacation days for travelling, not walking around Minnesota in the middle of winter, or sitting at home “protesting”.

Now, given the fact that I come from such an office who held the silent understanding that we wouldn’t be participating, I was sure that this day would be less than successful as far as turnout goes. My Facebook feed was full of women posting about their inspirational mothers, people had changed their profile pic to adorn a pro-lady message, etc., etc.. But, I didn’t see a single post, from women who I actually knew (not just a link to an article of some random woman), that had actively skipped work that day. I saw images on Facebook of women who I didn’t know in NYC and Washington D.C. carrying signs and marching and the first thing that popped into my head was — I wonder what they do for work. Did they work a job in which they just happened to have the day off? A job in which they could have easily called their boss and let them know they’d be participating? Are they themselves bosses or women with positions “in power” that meant they could make their own rules for the day? Really, what all these questions are getting to is just one thing — did they risk their job by attending? And if yes, is this job vital to their well-being?

There are jobs, in the past, that I’ve held throughout high school or college that I know would have frowned upon me calling in to support this cause. I don’t think I would have been fired from such jobs, but it definitely would have been a bigger possibility than at the job I currently have, and i know for a fact that there are jobs out there that women hold who would have been fired on the spot had they told their bosses they weren’t showing up on the 8th. I also know that some of these jobs would be considered “vital” or in other words, if they had been fired, it would have meant going without food until finding their next job, or not being able to pay rent, or not going to the doctor when they need to, etc.. And I would assume that many of these women, who faced such a decision, weighed their options and felt excluded based on the decision they had to come to. The ultimatum that they had to make was whether or not they wanted to stand with their fellow female force and demand rights, or whether they wanted to go to work and secure their paycheck.

It begs the question of whether or not women who come up with these ideas and decide for us what we are doing, really realize how many women they alienate in the process. And to make that wound a little deeper for the women who are not able to participate, they offer up the secondary choice of wearing red. Really? When we are constantly being told to be active and not passive in this political climate, it’s hard to understand why the message would be to either take this big stance and skip work or simply “wear red”. And I don’t mean to slam anyone who wore red. I wore red. I wanted to wear red. I wanted to see a sea of red when I walked out of my front door and was disappointed when that wasn’t the case. Not even close… And yet, I felt stupid for thinking that wearing red really meant something. That wearing red was an “active” sign of protest and that it would make some sort of difference. Because I really don’t think that it will. I think that taking to the streets, calling up politicians, boycotting, voting, and so much more is what will make a difference. But it will only make a difference if we stop alienating.

This isn’t an easy task. In some way or another we tend to exclude. We don’t think about those who live different lives than ours. Or we consider it the “minority” and therefore push it to the side. We make way for primarily white, wealthy, feminism. We forget about how many we exclude when we use this angle, an angle that is true for a lot of us, but not for the majority of us. We believe that this will be enough. That this will be the change. We need to realize and actively change the way we see feminism. Feminism needs to be inclusive. It needs to include people of color. It needs to include LGBTQ. It needs to include handicap. And, it also needs to include those who don’t hold the same political views. This was, after all, a day to support women, not just liberal women. There is even an argument out there that says it also needs to include pro-lifers. I’m not ready to be that inclusive…

Never know what treasures you’ll find at the St. Paul Farmer’s Market.