Little Soldiers

On Saturday morning, I went to the funeral of my mother's best friend. As much as it is distressing to watch one's parents lose one of their own, this post isn't about that. It's about the best friend.

Mrs. D and my mom would be on the phone almost daily talking about their kids or the FOX news. Sometimes they would watch the FOX news together, while talking on the phone.

Mrs. D, my mom, and all their other little friends that they picked up from the PTA years ago were completely political. And just like Maureen Dowd's mom, they shot off letters to local and national leaders fairly regularly. One time, Mrs. F sent a letter to President Reagan. Without addressing the letter, she just affixed a picture of her hero on the outside of the envelope. I think it reached the White House.

Their intense political drive came out of their deep Catholicism and love for their kids. For many it has pushed them to the right. (My aunt's TV has the FOX news logo permanently burned into the lower right corner of her TV.) But it doesn't have to be that way. Our local priest is way on the left and was a prominent civil rights activist in the 60s.

I remember one dinner at my folk's house. It was Mrs. D, Father Ashley, and my folks. We got started on the topic of African American studies and Len Jefferies. Mrs. D and my mom ranted that Jefferies was a charlatan, while Father Ashley and I pointed out the positive things about Black studies departments. My dad was friends with Len, so he just smiled. The Church Ladies didn't push too far, because I had a priest on my side, which is always a handy thing in such situations.

My point is that I have always been surrounded by political women. We don't always share the same politics, but that's okay. Whenever I hear the "why don't women like politics" debate, I'm always puzzled. I have to first imagine women who aren't political, because frankly I don't know that many of them, and then try to figure out what these imaginary women are more concerned with. Perhaps I shouldn't waste anymore time on that.

I have always been surrounded by political women. Like Mrs. D, they're all little soldiers who are moved by faith and family. I have to think that their numbers are more numerous than anyone realizes.

I'm sorry to have lost a dinner debate partner.

Comments

[Michael]

This is a lovely post and it reminds me of my own mother, who doesn't consider herself "political" yet makes political statements every day in her actions.

Shirley started working in the 1960s and her politics are shaped by her experience as a working mother from the late 1960s through the 1980s. She was always fighting for her rights in the workplace and took advantage of every opportunity she was given, even when she believed she got it "because I am a woman." She went from being a bank clerk to a vice president of the bank, all with just a high school diploma. She was consistently one of the few women in power at her workplace and she took that role very seriously.

Now retired, she still makes political statements. I was asking her recently about something she had bought and she said, "You know, I don't shop at Wal-Mart anymore because I just don't like the way they treat their employees." She also recently related that she had gone head-to-head with her church over the issue of gays. As the mother of a gay son, she is often taking up these issues. While her church denomination is very liberal, her own church is very midwestern conservative. But she still insisted that they should include language about embracing gays and lesbians "because it's the right thing to do, even if there's not a single one in the church."