Part Women's March, part Day Without Immigrants, "A Day Without A Woman" events are taking place throughout the country Wednesday, including locally, in tandem with International Women's Day.
The idea, of course, is to show just how much of an impact women have on society — you know, beyond being seen as sex object, baby factory or cuddly/surly grandma — and how much the economy (and probably men, too) would languish without us possessors of double-x chromosomes. Because we have jobs and stuff; one of us was even almost a president this one time.
In Tampa, the local leg of the super-successful Women's March on Washington is putting together a day of resistance that culminates with an evening march downtown from the Downtown Tampa Library to Lykes Gaslight Park. The rally/march portion is in conjunction with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. (A similar event is taking place in St. Petersburg.)
Organizers also want participants to do the following all day:
1. Wear red in solidarity.
2. Do not engage in paid or unpaid work.
3. Avoid spending money (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses that support gender, racial, and economic equity).
4. Divest from Bank of America.
5. Boycott Hobby Lobby .
6. Boycott MillerCoors products.
Some of these things, of course, are not practical for many, if not most women.
Most of us who are employed can't exactly tell our bosses we will be spending what would otherwise be a productive workday crushing the patriarchy.
Most of us who have Bank of America accounts can't just close our checking accounts, however much we want to.
And some of us, well, some of us just look better in cool tones.
The rest seem reasonable, though, especially that last one. Glad Trader Joe's $6 cava brut isn't on the list.
Anywayyyy... So, most of us don't have the luxury of being able to skip work, and aren't retired/married to a rich dude (yet). So fortunately the website Bustle has come up with alternative ways, in addition to some of those listed above, to show solidarity, including:
-Make a donation to an organization like Planned Parenthood or the National Organization for Women.
-Call Congressional and state legislative representatives and share your thoughts on any bills that concern the state of women (there is more than one, ya know, and the bill abolishing the EPA counts).
