Reflections in the aftermath of International Women's Day: Feminism and Chelsea Manning
On Women’s
day I sat down to reflect upon and maybe write a small article about all of the
brave women who have dared the risks of making, or trying to make, change in
our corrupted world. There were women’s
marches on a global scale this year but I first looked at and saluted our own Canadian
women. What Canadian woman could not
thrill at the risks Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have taken in their careers
to expose the wrong-doing of the Trudeau government in seeking to cover up the
sins of a powerful corporation (SNC-Lavalin).
And then there was the wonderful pride and courage exhibited by the many
First Nation women who risked arrest, and were
arrested, for standing their ground in environmental blockades. I also salute Dr. Alexander Morton for her tireless
and valuable work on the deplorable fish farms that constantly threaten our
wild salmon. As a dual
citizen, I also felt a glow of appreciation when I heard of the young
Democratic women south of the border. They are trying desperately to revive their
party new again; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Llhand Oman, Tulsa Gabbard, and a
few others who are identifying as Democratic Socialists. And then I got to Chelsea Manning.
Where to
place her in the “woman as hero” category?
Biologically, Manning is not a female, but she presents as a woman, as
the word “woman” is a social designation. Manning looks, speaks and acts as a
woman. I will go one step further and say Manning also acts like a mother. In
what way? In the way she has exposed the
criminal drone killings of children when she was in the military. Of course, it was criminal to kill the adults
as well in the material Manning sent to Wiki leaks, but the sight of children
scrambling to escape were heart rendering.
Manning knew she was taking terrible risks when she released the tapes. The U.S. still has the death penalty. Even if
she wasn’t killed outright she knew she was facing a possible life time in
prison. She was given thirty-five years. That she was pardoned after seven
years was a last minute decision by President Obama before leaving office.
Now the U.S.
Secret Services want her to appear before a secret grand jury to testify against
Wiki leaks and Julian Assange without a lawyer and only the prosecutors
present. She reused, saying she was against secret grand juries in principal,
and she had nothing to add to her previous military testimony. So Manning is
back in prison.
How long
will she say there? Will they be able to
break Manning down in their desperation to get something more on Julian
Assange? Time will tell. In the process Chelsea Manning has further
clarified the word “feminism” for me. The
word can mean different things to different women, but for me it has to be
synonymous with the search for motherly justice, which in turn means the demand
for protection of all children. Without this definition, feminism will mean
little of importance to the human race. Chelsea Manning has demonstrated for
the world that she was willing to put her very life where her heart was, and it
was a motherly heart. Chelsea Manning is my pick for Feminist Woman of the
Year.
