Pantsuit Nation: We’re Still Here

Remember that time I told you I tried to avoid bringing politics into my business?  Yeah about that…turns out that isn’t my new truth.  There is no way that I can consider myself a champion for women if I am too scared to put it all on the line and stand up for what I believe in.  So here I am putting it all out there, in the name of women and women’s rights. 

A little disclaimer before we begin: 

When I first heard the results of the election, I was shocked, saddened and brought to a place of anger.  I knew that I needed to do something to share my voice and utilize my network, and so I decided to do this project.  I put out the call for 3 days and had 15 women volunteer to be a part of it.  I want to say that we represent every woman, but we don’t.  There is so much diversity missing that I hope to do this project again soon, and bring a more diverse group of women to the table. 

Now, lets begin. 

I want to start off by explaining why I chose to ask the women to come in pantsuits and to be sexy while doing it.  First of all, we all know about the awesome “secret” FB group pantsuit nation right?  It is a group designed to not just champion for Hillary, but to stand up against the misogyny, xenophobia and racism that was spewing all about during the election process.  It has since turned into a support group for those who now fear for their rights and saftey. I love the idea of a woman in a pantsuit because not so long ago, women were not able to express themselves in the way they do now, not able to hold positions of power, to be regarded as equals.  Now we are, and you bet your ass we are not about to let all of the hard work that has been done in the name of women’s rights just vanish.  Now let’s talk a bit about why I made the decision to have these women dress sexy.  This is a position that is controversial and it is more important now than ever that we let the message be heard loud and clear. 

This is our body.  This is our body. This is OUR BODY!

If you think for one second that these women showed up for this session dressed to impress a man, you are fucking wrong.  No, what they showed up was to say, this is my body, this is my choice. The way that I dress has absolutely nothing to do with you. Be it I dress in a turtle neck and a long skirt or in a sheer dress, you do not have the right to touch my body.  You do not have the right to tell me how I govern my body.  No Mr. President-Elect Trump, you cannot just walk up to a woman and grab her by her pussy.  You like what you see? Fabulous, you still cannot fucking touch us without our consent! 

You like what you see? Fabulous, you still cannot fucking touch us without our consent! 

Now I live in New York, a state we don’t even look at in the media because it is already assumed that we bleed blue in this state. Yes a majority do, however, that doesn’t mean that everyone does.  I happen to have my home studio directly overlooking a Planned Parenthood, and with Healthcare for Women, come the men who think that they have a single say in that.  I sometimes cannot even walk down the street during the week without them turning up their church music and chanting at me, turning their fake babies in my direction, and all I happen to be doing is going home.

Now I know that this is a hot button debate, so I am not about to sit here and tell you that my beliefs in science overrule your religion. No the  date someone regards life beginning is very personal and intrinsic to how they were raised and their faith and I would never ever tell one side they are right and one side they are wrong.

What I will say is that IT IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! Stay out of other women’s bodies. If you are a woman, stay out of other women’s bodies, if you are a man stay out of other women’s bodies.   Sounds simple enough right?

Now that that is settled let’s move onto the love we need to share and show to all of the other groups affected by this decision, minorities, people of color, LGBT, Muslims, Mexicans, the list goes on and on and on.

I am not about bridging the gap right now. I am about saying, hey I am really friggen scared. I am a Jewish woman who lives across from a Planned Parenthood and you just appointed one of the most anti-semetic, white-supremacists to be your a chief strategist in the highest halls of our federal government. You want to enact change?  look beyond the face of the party, President Pussy-Grabber, and lets look at who he is appointing.  What can we do to change this?

I believe we have to start small, start local and to put our money where our mouth is.

After you look through these powerful images of some bad-ass and strong women, I want you to turn your attention to the list at the bottom of the blog.  That is a short list of places that I believe are going to need our support more now than ever.

If you don’t have money to donate, have a bake sale and donate the profits, every little bit counts and senator Bernie Sanders showed us exactly how powerful small and individual donations can be.

We have the power to make a difference.

Now sit tall, put on your glasses, get a tall drink of water, and prepare to join me and these other incredible brave women in the resistance.

The resistance to misogyny, the resistance to hate, the resistance to racism, the resistance to xenophobia.

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Let me tell you something ladies, we have alot of thankless work ahead of us, but it is together that we will succeed.

I am a firm believer that when it comes to government, the vote always happens, you have the opportunity every single day to vote with your actions and vote with your wallet.  I encourage you to set up monthly draws for some of the organizations below.  Pick the ones that sit right with your personally held beliefs and raise them up. Rally and donate to local politicians who you want to win in 2 years.  We do have power, don’t ever let anyone tell you that it is over because we may have lost the battle, but the war has just begun:

To support women’s health: Planned Parenthood (http://plannedparenthood.org ) or the Center for Reproductive Rights (http://reproductiverights.org ).

If you don’t believe man-made global warming is a a silly issue, give to the Natural Resources Defense Council (http://nrdc.org ).

Give to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (http://naacpldf.org )

The Trevor Project for LGBT youth (http://thetrevorproject.org )

Another worthy cause is the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (http://maldef.org )

Join me in the resistance.

We can make a difference, and in the words of my homeboy Bill Maher:

We’re Still Here!