I so enjoyed reading your piece. As a feminist for over 50 years, I had become SO disheartened at the small steps forward in women's issues. We STILL make less money than men; we are still grossly under-represented at higher levels of corporations; we are often ignored in meetings; we are not given credit for our ideas. I was denied the right to attend college because, according to my father, "girls (his demeaning term for a grown woman) just get married and have babies so an education is wasted on them" and this was despite my excellent grades and being a National Honor Society member. I didn't get my Associates degree until I was 47 years old and I had to pay for a good part of it on my own. I had to fight with credit card companies to change my name to my new husband's name on MY credit cards. They wanted his written permission and all he brought to our marriage was a 2-year degree, the car I gave him and college debts! I cancelled the cards (which I had held for years and paid faithfully) rather than submit to their arcane "rules". I was told at one job that because I wasn't head of household, I couldn't get a raise and this was after I had one of my employees tell me he made more money than I did as his supervisor!

So, to see women organize one of the largest marches in all of USA history on January 21, 2017 (I participated locally) was so wonderful. And now, to see women finally speak out about being sexually accosted in a variety of ways by men warms my heart. I was challenged on this in a discussion recently so I counted up the number of times I had been accosted by men: 12 separate occasions and that's doesn't include the countless "cat calls", that frighten and objectify women. Please understand that I was not a beautiful woman. I had a small figure and I was pretty in an ordinary way. Those men just did it because they could, they felt entitled, there were no repercussions for them and there were no ways for a woman to address such acts. There are still those men who will say that women lie about these issues just to get even or hurt men. Unfortunately, those women are out there and it is deplorable but they are a very small percentage.

I am just one average women and I had 12 instances happen to me. These included my brother, my stepfather, co-workers, men I didn't know and a date rape. And please, don't get me wrong, I don't hate all men nor do I think that most men are like those men. I have known and loved some wonderful men who would never dream of doing such things. The point is that I'm betting every single man out there knows of at least one woman who has been accosted in some way. That's a pretty big problem and I am absolutely thrilled that women are finally able to speak out and be heard and taken seriously. It is the beginning of the change that has been long, long overdue and very much needed.

I applaud all those women who have been brave enough to stand up and say this is wrong and we must address it. Although I was very saddened to learn that Senator Franken was among the accused, I was pleased with the Democrats response to immediately ask for (and get) his resignation. That stands in stark contract to the Republicans who typically deny and such accusations and, indeed, their supporters elected DT to office and it appears that Roy Moore (a pedophile!!!!) is likely to follow. And to think that this is from the conservative, so-called moral right! They have lost all credibility and I seriously doubt that I could ever vote republican again, not after Reagonomics, GWB and his made up Iraq war for his own personal gain, and after the way the republicans treated Obama during his tenure as POTUS and certainly not after the DT administration. Thanks for reading this.