Today was a day of mixed feelings...... some good and empowering, but many disheartening and disappointing. I traveled to Bismarck today to participate in Women's Lobby Day at the capitol. I expected this day to be full of valuable information and opportunities... for women...but what I was greeted with was patriarchy of new levels; feelings of a fourth grade field trip were how I felt as a "visitor" to the building.
When we arrived at the capitol building, we were required to head upstairs and register; quite benign in itself. But, things shifted quickly when we were told to put on bright yellow shirts and write out a nametag with a sharpie marker laying on a table. These t-shirts and sub-standard name badges made us stick out like sore thumbs... and not in a good way. We were presented like a fourth grade field trip to "check out the capitol" rather than to be taken seriously as valuable constituents from across the state. After a short briefing on the events of the day, we were invited to eat lunch... again, sounding quite nice. But, we quickly discovered that there were no arrangements for seating... which meant that all of the 90 or so women in attendance sat on the floor to eat their lunches. Women were in every nook and cranny, while their male counterparts trepsed on by in suits and ties. The power differential was incredible and I felt sad to see how women were being treated and percieved at such a great-intending event. It truly saddened me that the women of our state weren't offered something better. I can only speculate that a "men's lobby day" would have been met with suits, ties, and printed name cards.

Also upsetting were the comments that we heard throughout the day. So many references were made to "women bombarding" and "women ruining the history of the country" that it made me seriously doubt the cognitive abilities of many of our legislators.

And lastly, the voting that took place was abserd. Bills with subsidized funding for healthcare for uninsured children was voted down. As we sit with SO much money in the surplus, I wonder how these (mostly male) individuals sleep at night knowing that they are responsible for the fact that thousands of children go without health insurance and medical care each day.

Again, I want to reiterate that this day had FABULOUS intentions; however, the way that we were presented was in a clearly sub-standard level that made me feel like we were simply bothersome and only there to get a tour of the capitol... not be treated like we were a valuable asset for which to engage in discussion with... in fact, I felt somewhat avoided and as if I was the subject of a bad joke.