Ladies, It's Time to Stand Up & Be Counted

Yes, today is November 1st. And yes, I should be adding to my word count (which currently sits at 0 as you can see by the meter to the right) for NaNo. And yes, my blog will probably suffer this month because I won't be able to keep up with both (plus the website I'm working on, the novel writing class I'm taking, oh and my kids and husband, housework, etc.), but this issue is just to important to ignore.

I subscribe to the Moms Rising email list and I was sent an email yesterday regarding the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday. Are you ready for this?

"Women are the largest group of non-voters in America. Nearly 20 million women didn't vote in 2004, and they are therefore "The Deciders" in election outcomes. They could not only alter the political playing field, but could make an entire new field all together."

Go ahead. Read it again. That's right. Twenty million women DIDN'T vote in 2004.

Of course there are a thousand reasons why they didn't ranging from "I didn't have time that day," to "I forgot," to "One vote doesn't matter anyway." But as you can see, one vote times millions of other women who thought the same thing ABSOLUTELY made a difference in 2004.

So I am asking all you female registered voters out there - and I mean ALL OF YOU - to make a point of going out and voting on November 7th. And while you're at it, encourage the women in your life to vote as well. We can complain all we want about lack of availability of quality child care, we can complain about the gender wage gap, we can complain until we're blue in the face that the wealthy (mostly male) representatives in Congress don't give a damn about you and me - but the only way any of that will change is with your vote. It's one of only two languages (the other being $$$$$) politicians understand.

So get out and vote, ladies!! This is important. This is worth putting on the calendar. This is worth making time for. If we don't help ourselves, certainly no one else will volunteer.