Greetings Friends!
I have been immersed in stories of “Gutsy” women who show courage and resilience as they forge the way for many of us.
Through my research, the Apple TV series Gutsy, and the incredible account from the book Gutsy Women, I have learned and investigated some fascinating stories.
Through it, I have felt various emotions, from disbelief, anger, outrage, and an overwhelming sense of pride. The older I get, the more I appreciate women and the power we collectively hold—I now more than ever have an incredible feeling of empowerment and pride in my gender, especially considering our rights were limited not long ago.
There have been women before us who have endured incredible violence and discrimination merely for having a vagina. Sadly, many of us have countless stories where we have been violated through words or actions primarily based on our gender. While I’m not one to tout “pussy power,” I am going to continue to encourage us to unite and continue our fight for women’s equality. However, there is so much more work to be done. I want to start by discussing the information that literally stopped me in my tracks.
In our Country, child marriage is legal in forty-one states.
Before you think, “Am I reading this correctly?” You are… today, January 2024; Child marriage is legal in forty-one states.
In fact, it didn’t become illegal in Delaware and New Jersey until 2018 and later in Rhode Island and New York in 2021. Women like Fraidy Reiss are protesting and speaking out against this because, frankly, like me, most are unaware of these dangerous and heartbreaking archaic laws. She has founded the organization Unchained At Last and is an advocate to stop the abuse of childhood marriage.
If that doesn’t, get your pink-taxed tampons in a bunch, I don’t know what will- From 2000 to 2018, there were over three hundred thousand legal child marriages in the United States. Young girls are being married off, abused, raped, and unable to escape to shelters because they are minors. The lack of laws protecting our most vulnerable is inexcusable.
I couldn’t believe this statistic and was horrified by its validity; how could this be America?
How can we say we have come a long way when children are getting married and then become traumatized by the abuse, unable to escape the horrors?
However, we are finally making some leeway, thanks to the brave women and the organizations pushing laws to prohibit this atrocity.
From the beginning of time, women have been exposed to sexism and abuse, in and out of the workplace, and with the help of some gutsy women, they have changed the trajectory of our country.
Women have always been fierce trailblazers. My heroes are Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Helen Keller, Juliette Gordon Low, Billie Jean King, and Sarah Brady, to name a few. Like them, I am committed to educating, exposing, and discussing injustices against women as we have open communication about how to prevent the continuation of the gross injustices.
Feminism has always been at the forefront of my writing, and I hope to bring awareness to often-hidden issues. For me, I was utterly unaware of the legality of child marriage in our country. The more you know, the better equipped we are to take a stand.
I want to have made an impact and sparked curiosity about this issue.
For more information, please see the below links.
https://19thnews.org/2023/07/explaining-child-marriage-laws-united-states
https://www.unchainedatlast.org/
Write on my friends,
Donna Lynn Lito