TIMES The Women’s Marches

Over half a million women took part in the Los Angeles Women’s March. (Courtesy of Summer Fox)

Multiple generations are fighting for gender equality

Various news outlets reported the astonishing lack of attendees at Trump’s inaug. on Jan. 20, highlighting the difference between his crowd and President Barack Obama’s in 2009. These reports infuriated America’s new president, who stated that a “million and a half” people attended the inaugural event, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

However, the Women’s Marches that occurred throughout the nation on Saturday did not have any issues regarding attendance.  Vox reported that these demonstrations may have been the largest in U.S. history, with over 3.3 million people participating.  One of these participants was a 43 year-old high school English teacher named Deana Pointon, who protested just miles away from the capitol in Washington D.C.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” she says. “There was positive energy everywhere; people were smiling, laughing, hugging, and chanting. It was amazing to see so many people together peacefully protesting and being heard.”

In the cities of Washington, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago there was not one single related arrest made at the protests, despite there being an estimated 1.9 million attendees. Protesters wore extravagant outfits and held witty signs, such as one that stated “We Will Overcomb!” Due to the lack of arrests and peaceful atmosphere that embodied the protests, many felt comfortable bringing their children to the marches.

Pointon brought her 13 and 11-year-old daughters, Masie and Abbie Tisdale, to the Women’s March in D.C. Both girls were very engaged throughout this past election, often times in states of utter disgust by some of the rhetoric Trump employed.  On Saturday the two were provided with the opportunity to unite in their disdain towards the new president and his administration with thousands of people.

“My favorite part were the chants that everyone got excited about and being able to see so many people that have the same opinions that I do,” attendee Masie Tisdale says. “I was able to promote the importance of women and our rights as people. It also is important to get Trump to know the bad things he has said in order to make him change his mind.”

Despite the uproar that occurred within the capitol itself, many other cities participated in these demonstrations on Saturday. Estimates show that one out of every 100 Americans joined the marches, which spread across over 500 different U.S. cities. In Los Angeles, Summer Fox, a 21-year-old college student, marched Saturday afternoon.

“I marched because I will not tolerate racism, sexism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or hatred of any kind really. And unfortunately we’ve seen a lot of that during this election cycle, which is not what America is about,” Fox says. “I, along with the million of marchers around the world, reject Trump’s hateful rhetoric. We’re not going to sit and be quiet while our President calls Mexicans rapists and criminals, or when he has bragged about sexual assault, or when he talks about defunding Planned Parenthood.”

As Pointon, Tisdale, and Fox can attest, the women’s marches serve as symbols of peace, love, and democracy done right. Fox claims that during these protests there “was no violence, no name-calling, no harassing the police – just a lot of love and support.”

Considering the fact that over 3 million pissed off Americans gathered together peacefully in one day to express their anger towards the new president, it’s safe to say Trump is going to have his small, petite hands full for the foreseeable future.

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