When One is Not Equal...

I am truly blessed.  I have been fortunate enough to have so many amazing women come into my life in the past 38 years. It is my hope that some of them will guest blog or at least be featured at The Voices of Lilith and Judith.  One of the amazing women in my life is my long-time friend Karyn.  In the almost 20 years I have known her, she has been a strong influence in my life and I always seem to be learning from her.

My friend Karyn has her own blog, Quinn's Crusaders, where she blogs about her family's journey raising three bright, gorgeous kids (Riley, Aidan and Quinn).  Quinn happens to have an extra chromosome.  Karyn blogs to increase awareness and advocacy for families with children with special needs.  She recently blogged about how Quinn will likely face discrimination not just because she is female but because she also has down syndrome. 

"But imagine your daughter as not facing only bias because she is a woman, but also facing more hurtful discrimination surrounding a disability of which many others can see and have historically shown a great bias towards. It is the latter part that is on my mind - because let's face it, the world has been and is currently cruel in a lot of ways towards those who don't meet the standards of "normal." The fact remains that the majority of women in the US who receive a prenatal diagnosis of DS in their child go on to abort that child because of the diagnosis - so what does this say about the value others see in someone like my child? I am not talking about pro life or pro choice here - I am talking about the fact that planned pregnancies are terminated solely because of a diagnosis of DS and individuals not wanting to raise such a child. That is a difficult thing to swallow when you look at your little girl and know that is happening. Yes, I know it really shouldn't matter what society thinks when my family obviously sees infinite value in Quinn, but still it is something she has to deal with as she ages and ultimately becomes a young woman. And if it impacts her, it impacts me."

 Read the rest of her blog here.  While you are there, you should follow her too!

I also recently came across came across this post at Feministing.com.

As we continue the fight for gender equality, let's not forget to include ALL females in this fight.  When one is not equal, none of us are.