Many years ago I remember hearing about a Remembrance Day ceremony during which a woman broke away from the crowd, laid a wreath, grabbed the microphone and began to speak about the WOMEN who were -- and are -- victims of the wars we tend to glorify on this day; the women who were nurses (and other female medical and military personnel) who have also died in the service of their country; the women here 'at home' who suffered and sacrificed much to keep the country running in the absence of the men who were off fighting the good fight -- only to be sent packing back to the kitchen and the bedrooms when the men returned home; and finally, the thousands of women -- around the world, no matter whose 'side' they fought on -- left to mourn their husbands, fathers and brothers who died.
That woman, on that long ago Remembrance day, was arrested for her 'civil disobedience' -- and I've never forgotten it. To this day, the Remembrance Day ceremony MCs often pay lip service to those historic women by saying "to the men
and women..." and then they carry on talking about just the men.
So every year, I take a moment to honour these historic WOMEN who are otherwise forgotten. This isn't taking anything away from remembering the (male) soldiers -- I do, and we all do, and this day focuses mainly on them. But my thoughts today are with those women... lest we forget.
4 comments:
Thank you Marilyn, for this very accurate reflection. Today I will definitely be remembering all the women impacted by war.
May I add my 2cents worth?
the term 'men' means 'mankind'...which includes both genders. It's from the 'olden' days. But I do hear what you are saying.
Same as "Adam" and "Eve" in the Bible..in the proverbial garden (life in general?)..with research one finds that adam means male and eve means female...latin? not sure.
It would be one very wierd world if ONLY two people kept reproducing and their offspring reproduced with each other...whoa!
maybe THAT is what's wrong with our world today(((smiling)))
Thank you for that thought Marilyn!
Hey, I work with www.mochaclub.org, a non-profit that works in Africa. I saw that you were on the NaBloPoMo list, and we'd love for you to blog about our new campaign on Nov. 24th. The campaign is centered around this idea – at Mocha Club, we have always cared about building an accurate perception of both the challenges that Africans face, and the BEAUTY of Africa. We need bloggers to help get the word out. Please email our director at barrett[at]mochaclub[dot]org if you would be interested in hearing the details!
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