Act NOW to Support the ERA

House Committee on Privileges and Elections to Consider United States Constitution; Equal Rights Amendment

RESOLUTIONS NUMBERS: HJ 2, 4, 129

TITLE: United States Constitution; Equal Rights Amendment

ACTION: Call your legislators and urge them to support HJ 2, 4 & 129! These are great resolutions with bipartisan support. It’s time for Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. It has been ratified by 36 states, including Nevada just last year. This resolution advocates that the General Assembly ratify the ERA. Now is the time for equal rights for women!

Only two more states are needed to ratify; Virginia could be one of them. The bills ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment are already gaining bipartisan support. In fact, Republican Delegate Roxann Robinson has filed a House bill and John McGuire is a co-patron. Expanding this to a bipartisan majority will give the General Assembly national accolades for its leadership during these contentious times.

The ERA will give Congress greater Constitutional authority to enact legislation to protect women. Without this, legislation protecting women could be invalidated, as happened in 2000, when the Supreme Court struck down the civil remedy provision of the Violence Against Women Act.
Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment is good politics for Virginia, especially now when national attention is focused on women’s issues and technology companies are looking to locate in welcoming sites in the Southeast. Ratifying the ERA would attract such companies to Virginia.
For additional talking points: tinyurl.com/VAratifyERAtalkpt2

PATRONS: HJ 2: Kaye Kory; chief co-patrons Eileen Filler-Corn; Jennifer Carroll Foy; Hala Ayala; HJ 4: Alfonso Lopez; HJ 129: Roxanne Robinson; chief co-patron Kaye Kory

If your Delegate is on the list below, call and say why you support this joint resolution.
Or email: DelXXX@senate.virginia.gov (fill in your Delegate’s first initial and last name)
Find your Delegate here: whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov

 

A Personal Reminder About Online Bullying Between Feminists

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A personal reminder from Virginia NOW’s Communications Vice President, Paradise

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Any time someone says to you, ‘you’re not a feminist if you don’t also support _________’, realize immediately that this is NOT your issue. This is a conflict that the original poster needs to resolve within themselves.

~o~

These kinds of posts are a flagrant abuse of power and manipulation, whereby the poster banks on someone else’s insecurities, guilts and fears in order to create lapdog who will do their preaching for them. 

These social justice warriors need to bully others into believing what they believe, and should you disagree, you’re simply not a part of the women’s movement any longer.

And this is just lies and manipulation. 

Nastiness, bullying, and political guilt trips should be non-existent between fellow feminists within the movement.  Women receive enough guilt in their day to day lives.  Let us not retreat back to high school tactics as our new form of advocacy.  Let us seek camaraderie in the feminist community. Let us seek a safe haven to share our thoughts, our passions, and our struggles without being shut down for saying something outside the status quo.

Christians used to do this to me all the time. They would tell me that if I wasn’t their denomination of Christianity, then I wasn’t really a Christian. So I said, “K, then I’m not a Christian.”

I don’t want to reach this same point with feminism.

It’s very sad to see so many of these ‘faux feminist social justice warrior elites’ bully lifelong feminists with explicit sexist and racist slurs.  I’m used to seeing this kind of behavior from the radical right.  I’ve come to learn that radical is radical, regardless of whether it’s from the right or left.

“Feminism is a great sisterhood of love and support where the acceptance of different ideas and perspectives is welcomed for the greater good.  This is liberation.  The right to disagree and the choice to still support each other is actual feminism.“

I might not be in someone else’s denomination of feminism, but that doesn’t mean I’m not an incredible feminist and aficionada of the women’s liberation movement.

So please, if you see a feminist attacking someone else – especially online, even if you agree with his or her stance, call them out on it.  Tell them to try another approach.  Why?  Because they are single-handedly making potential newbie feminists back AWAY from the women’s movement. These bullies are creating resistance to what you represent.

There are so many different topics to address in the women’s movement that it would be a waste of our collective knowledge, resources, and solutions if we only worked on the same issues.  Welcome what others can bring to the movement.

A movement, after all, is only as good as its people. Be kind and be awesome.

♥️♥️♥️♥️

Love and light,
Paradise

P.S. Thank you to my incredible web editor, Katie Regan, who encouraged me to post this on Virginia NOW’s blog.  You’re an inspiration, m’friend.  xoxo!

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