What Women Face

Tomorrow the first woman Vice President of the United States will take the oath at the inauguration. I saw a picture on social media of Kamala Harris reminding us that today, January 19, 2021, is the last day that a woman has never been vice president. The fact that a woman,  daughter of immigrants, who is Black and South Asia will be the first woman to hold this office is momentous for many of us. The fact that my daughter can see herself in madam vice president is meaningful to me. The cherry on top is that she will be sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, weeepaaa!

 

 

As November 3, 2020, turned into the 4th, and 5th and the election result became clearer I saw an image online of Kamala Harris with Ruby Bridges’ shadow from the famous Norman Rockwell painting titled, The Problems We All Live With. I have a print of the Norman Rockwell painting in my office. I have worked in higher education for over 20 years, and I see, to this day, students who are marginalized by our educational systems. As a woman of color in academia and in our daily society, I continue to see the problems we all live with. To see the image of Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris and Ruby Bridges brought tears to my eyes. The image is titled, “That Little Girl Was Me,” and was created by Gordon Jones and Bria Goeller. The image is being sold in apparel at Good Trubble. 

 

 

I was so moved by the image that I created a TikTok about it. At the time I shared the video, the official election results were not in, but it was clear that Senator Harris would be our first woman Vice President. The video was well-received by many but of course, there was that one… 

 

 

A man insinuated that Kamala did “something to get ahead” and that Candice Owen was a better role model (he actually said “roll mode” but I knew what he was getting at). I responded to him because, personally, I do not agree that Candice Owens is a role model. His response to my varying opinion was “yeah kinda of figured cause ur probably like kamal u do ur best work from ur knees.” This is not the first time I have had a man make a comment to this extent and I am sure it will not be the last. Certainly, I am not alone, these experiences are common for many women. 

 

 

I made all the time for him and created a response TikTok video. 🙂 I was not going to respond on his level because I did not need to stoop that low. I Michelle Obamad him. 😉 I responded to him because, as AOC said, I am my parents’ daughter and I was not raised to accept disrespect. It was important to me to address him because I needed my daughter, who follows me on TikTok, see me standing up for myself so that she knows it is ok for her to stand up for herself. In my actions, she could see that you can stand up for yourself without going off, just being your most fabulous self. She saw that you do not let some random person take away your power or dignity. As a mom, you always look for that teachable moment. Also, I would be remiss if I did not say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with cussing out a fool when necessary. I can go high like Michelle, but I have not problems going low when needed. 😉 Sometimes the realest talk is the way to go.