Although for the past several months a small group of women had been planning for a party of sorts. Usually you plan for the food, the music and the entertainment. Well the food was picked in advance (not by us) and their was no musical fanfare. But there was serious entertainment of sorts.
Are you still intrigued? Well this past week all our hard work paid off. The invites went out (some didn't RSVP) but those who were in attendance, got to experience the chance of a lifetime. At least it was for me.
This past Thursday evening I was part of a group that got to listen to a truly great speaker. She was down to earth, approachable (I bugged her numerous times-she called it persistence) and she is a politician. Something you don't find often with politicians is approachability, at least I haven't been so lucky in the past. Most you get a form letter from with some other than their own signatures or if you are lucky a handshake.
If you haven't heard of her in MO or even elsewhere in the country I suggest you Google MO Representative Stacey Newman. She is from the St. Louis Area and is making some wonderful strides for women.
She spoke to us about a variety of topics including the ERA (which sadly has not been passed by the State of MO) Equal Pay-- as most know we make about 77 cents on the dollar compared to male counterparts. Ironically, Rep. Newman this past legislative session garnered nationwide attention on her Anti-Vasectomy Bill proposed as a push back on extreme reproduction health mandates that had only applied to women.
As she stated in our presentation, the War on Women is alive and well in Missouri and around the country.
Another note in her presentation was how saddened she was that more young women are choosing not to vote. How sad this is to me. Her comment that the importance of voting for the candidate that has the beliefs that you have and not necessarily voting for the "party" is more important. I have always been vocal I am not a strict party voter. Due to the obvious that each candidate doesn't always believe the same things I do.
I purposely invited my daughter to the meeting in hopes that she might be interested in my ever constant harping on how important it is not only to vote but to be a part of the solution that all women can make if they only get informed and involved. She admitted she was glad that she came and that it peaked her interest. My purpose was met!
A funny after thought to attending our "party" was that my daughter went home and was asked by her soon to be husband, "What was the meeting about?" after her explaining it to him, what was his comment, "Wow you and your Mom are not going to start burning bra's are you?" I got a chuckle out of his age old thinking and told her to tell him, "At my age, I not only can't afford to burn my bra it also wouldn't be fair to those around me to go bra-less in public".
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