I Am So Proud To Have A Vagina

Sitar has long been our favourite Indian restaurant. Nestled in the cradle of life, it sits between Baptist Hospital and the Vanderbilt campus. When you eat there you can expect some of the best Indian food and some of the oddest company. I go as much for the vibrant mix of neo-Hippie grad students and harried nurse practitioners as for the kheer and gulab jamon.

Today's crowd had a different ingredient in the mix.

The National Organization for Women is in town, and they came for the Sag.

Usually we hate the corner table in front of the window where they always stick us, because it's right under the speaker and you can't get away from the music of Bollywood. Today, we couldn't hear the music because the conversation from the table of four Womyn to my right was pretty intrusive.

Overheard:

1. "I don't give the general public much credit. They don't know what's going on. I was talking to a friend of mine on the Hill the other day and she was starting to explain to me what she was doing and going into the detail. I said 'I know, I know' and she said 'oh yeah. I forgot. We're in the Beltway. Most people are clueless about what we do.'"

2. "So was Karl Rove convicted? He should be because that's treason." said the Indian Woman, who a minute ago didn't give the rest of the world credit for knowing what was going on. "No, but he was indicted" said her friend, the Vice President for Membership at NOW. [ Karl Rove has not yet been indicted, much less convicted for his role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I know this, despite living my life a good 600 miles from The Beltway.]

3. The Michigan girl, after much talk about how well the Pistons played this year ("What sport is that?"--Vice President For Membership of NOW) went on to talk about the general ignorance of the Midwest. The Indian woman then went on to talk about how most Americans are " afraid of big city folk because they are all from small towns where everybody knows everybody. Outsiders are scary." This polemic then continued as the four Comrades In Estrogen decided that Bush became president solely on the strength of American ignorance of Beltway Facts.

I am disappointed. Why? Because women's rights are good thing, and an important thing. There are places in this world where women are stoned to death for being raped. I love that we live in a country where women's voices are finally counted. I was so disappointed to hear women, who ostensibly fight for the rights of other women, implicitly denegrade any female who disagrees with them.

I live in the Big City, and am not afraid of most of my neighbors. I also voted for Bush because I take seriously the idea of liberating ALL women. Even those who live outside The Beltway.