Lady Day: A Counter-Protest Like No Other

The people who brought you the extra-large vaginas marching on Washington in January are at it again. They have deemed today, March 8th, as “A Day Without Women.” You can show your support for abortion, Planned Parenthood, same-sex marriage, and of all things—transgenderism, by … not showing up for work. (They wisely didn’t make female body-part costumes or headgear mandatory, and are opting for more readily available red clothing.)

I do wonder how the heck transgenderism became the new thing that women are supposed to be concerned about—in addition to the rest of that improbable lineup. Are women supposed to be supporting women who don’t want to be women? Or only men who want to be women? Do the men get their own day to not show up at work—to support the women who want to be men? Did anyone actually think this through, or are they just throwing in the kitchen sink?

I have a suspicion that the agitators of this movement are not pushing the insta-hip transagenda out of sympathy for their fellow human beings…

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They’re pushing it because they hate little boys. They’re pushing it because they hate little girls. They also hate teenage boys, teenage girls, and adult men and women. In spite of all the bosh and hype about “happiness” they operate on the assumption that a fair number of people—of either sex—are or ought to be miserable about the way they were born.

The promoters quite obviously show nothing but contempt for genuine femaleness and maleness. They have nothing but scorn for anything that stays as God made it. They are like a psychotic relative at a Christmas party who whispers to one child that he got the lousy gift—his sister got the really cool gift. Then he goes to the sister and tells her that she got the rotten gift and her brother got the good one. Both kids ends up hating what they got and feel cheated by their parents. Neither one has much use for the other’s gift, they just wind up hating their own.

I do believe however, that the very aggressive instigators of this movement have influenced many people who really do mean well—a generation of shallow wits who cannot comprehend a question beyond its Disney-esque sentimentality. They cannot think except in clichés, and they have a terrible fear (and therefore a terrible tendency to be used) of being thought of as “mean” or “unkind.” People who should know better have replaced Fear of the Lord with fear of their neighbor.

I am not a small-minded bigot. I am, however, against pushing very expensive, harmful, and permanent medical intervention on children or young people whose frustrations in life are likely to stem from being victims of sexual abuse, parental neglect, the vicarious desires of those around them, or depression. As a believer in holistic health, I am against any invasive treatment other than that which is necessary to save life, heal disease, or correct disfigurement. As a hard-working individual and supporter of minimal government, I don’t want to be taxed to pay for such extravagance. As a Catholic, I believe in the inherent goodness and beauty of the human body, intended to be a dwelling place for God. I am against mutilation, which is forbidden by the fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill.

But I do feel that this has happened in some part because good people have failed—failed to make masculinity and femininity attractive and appealing—to their own and to the opposite sex. If neither life seems all that great, then there is a temptation to wonder if one has been given the short end of the stick, and if the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

If women as a group aren’t attractive, a man might wonder why he isn’t attracted to them. If men as a group lack manly charm and appeal, they become a herd of louts, and a woman may think she can do better with another woman.

fashion modelWe have deprived boys of having fun doing the boyish, risky and challenging things that help them turn into great men. We have made “nice” and “safe” their only two virtues, disgusting the average red-blooded male. Good people have aided and abetted this by coming down hard on male wisecracks (which often involve blunt observations), guns and hunting sports, and things like setting off fireworks. So to no one’s great surprise, boys have turned to cocaine and porn and whatever else. Boys are tough and they require tough things. We may need to accept that, even if it means allowing them to take some risks and make the occasional ethnic joke.

At the same time we have quietly discouraged manly men from pursuing poetry and the arts—as they have done for millennia, in almost every culture. Boys and men who show aesthetic sensitivity may question their masculinity—in spite of the fact that in ancient times, much epic poetry was written by retired warriors.

We have also deprived girls of the pleasure of being beautiful for the sake of others and making the world a lovely and loving place. We have made sports achievements, “aggressiveness” and “toughness” their only virtues, encouraging them to be selfish—to scorn beauty and elegance and refinement as weak or phony or shallow. Devout people have also avoided the cultivation of wholesome beauty in their daughters, attempting to prevent vanity or discourage impurity. They little realize that by neglecting the feminine arts, they risk making girls so unable to cope in the grown-up world of male and female that they might give up and fall prey to other, worse kinds of temptations.

We need to clean up our act today. We’ve lost too much time already, and it has cost us dearly. We need to start teaching our sons to be men and our girls to be women. We will not do this by negation and deprivation; this is a war we will only win by inspiration. So starting today, teach your son how to use a gun or play rugby. Teach your teenage daughter how to wear her hair and makeup, and how to dress well—with the emphasis on the word “beautifully.” If you are a child of the seventies, you may need to look back to the styles of the forties and fifties, when being a lady was a point of honor. Read good folk tales to children of both sexes; fairy tales are full of heroes and heroines who, besides being manly and womanly, are valiant and resourceful and clever.

If you are a man, get together in a men-only setting. Have dinner together, maybe on the feast of St. George, St. Martin, or St. Hubert. Smoke cigars and pipes and talk about manly things. Read about heroes and victories from the past; share ways to inspire your sons to become real men.

If you are a woman, start supporting your sisters in a communal way—get involved with a group or start your own. Women need to be friends with other women. Share your recipes; your housecleaning, child-rearing, bargain shopping, and money-saving tips. Teach your daughters how to sew or take a class (you’ll need to if you are going to teach them how to dress well).

Spanish ladiesHere’s something else you can do today: Blogger Colette Zimmerman came up with the truly brilliant idea of a counter-protest called “Lady Day.” She’s calling for women to dress modestly and elegantly (I would add beautifully), do charitable works, and go out and have tea with their lady friends.

Notice that the hats here are the real coup de grace. If you want to stand out and have people notice that you are a counter-protester, you have to do something enough out of the ordinary (in a positive way) that will make them be able to identify you and what you stand for.

I also intend to raise Mrs. Zimmerman one—and make it an annual event. Like most women, I need an excuse to get really, really dressed up. In future years, if March 8th falls during Holy Week, I will wear a stunning black dress and a mantilla, like the Spanish women do.

Get your hat and see you at tea!

(Lead photo credit: Nina Leen)

Author

  • Karen Anderson

    Karen Anderson writes about art and culture. She teaches art history at the Regina Caeli Academy in Wilton, Conn., and is the author of A Fairy-Tale Christmas (Stewart, Tabori, & Chang; 2006).

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