Covered in black, which is kind of like being covered in lies. Only worse. Because we Weeks women are nothing short of dramatic.

by Ashley Weeks Cart

Fired up doesn’t even to begin to describe how I’m feeling since the Massachusetts election results yesterday evening. So, know that going into this.

You see, when the 2004 Presidential Election results rolled into the Ulmer household all those years ago, my mother adorned herself in black. And remained in such a state of grief  for the entire month of November. She was in mourning. And folks, it has happened yet again. Allison, a lady in black. While I grew up in Massachusetts, a historically BLUE state (until YESTERDAY!), my parents settled into a town that was a hub of Catholic, Republican conservatism. Essentially, we were the crazy, Atheist, hippies on the hill. And wearing black for an entire month in response to a political election probably did nothing to dissuade such classification.

And trust me when we say, we are damn proud of it.

I’ve always been proud to be from Massachusetts, a state that I’ve heard referred to as a liberal, socialist nuthouse. A statement that warms my heart because it reminds me of all the progressive, forward-thinking policies that I so admire about the state’s politics. Politics that while they may frighten or threaten those more conservative in our country, pave the way for reform and social change and what I believe to be a more egalitarian way of life for all. It was the first U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. And the first U.S. state to reform health care to provide universal coverage to its residents.

That’s why, in light of all this, what I have to say is, “WTF MASSACHUSETTS?!?!”

I am filled with disappointment and a raging sense of fury at not only the Massachusetts residents but America as a whole. As always, we are two baby steps forward and ten GIANT steps backward. We refuse to think in terms of long term solutions and sustainability, and are out for ourselves, to make a quick buck. I am sick and tired of our selfish, short-sighted impulses.  The demand for instant gratification when reform and change are anything but instant,  and demand patience, endurance, and forward, progressive, out-of-the-box thinking is asinine and makes my blood boil. (I warned you that I was fired up. And dramatic.)

*Grumble*

And what irritates me the most, what shakes my core and fills me with utter rage is the blatant misogyny and sexism still so very prevalent in this nation. A country that claims equality for all, when women are still held to a double-standard and treated as second-class citizens. Listening to the news this morning, anchors were commenting on Scott Brown’s good looks and condoning his nude spread in Cosmopolitan. If a female political candidate EVER posed nude in say, Playboy, the backlash and criticism would be ASTRONOMICAL! It would never be acceptable, nor would that woman ever be taken seriously in a political arena. A woman must masculate herself to enter positions of power, because women are so codified as objects that in order to break free from the restraints of their gender, they must emulate the dominate sex. And even when they do this, they are criticized for their unfeminine ways. Yet if they cry, they are unstable. If a man cries, he is compassionate.

DOUBLE STANDARD. DOUBLE STANDARD. DOUBLE STANDARD.

I looked at my baby girl today and was filled with sadness that I had brought her into a world where even now her biological sex and consequently constructed gender identity would forever be a ball-and-chain on her agency in society. Needless to say, the house has been filled with a lot of Ani DiFranco today. A feminist musical lesson for the wee one: I have something to prove, as long as I know there’s something that needs improvement, and you know that everytime I move, I make a woman’s movement.

And all this happened during the week that we celebrate MLK’s legacy. The irony is astounding.

I have a dream that my daughter will one day live in a nation where she will not be judged by her biological sex but by the content of her character.

And for now, all the Weeks women are in black.