Why you should join the Women's March

There isn’t a list long enough for the reasons behind the march, but our crowds will always be bigger than Trump’s

Last year’s presidential election inspired the biggest protest march in US history. And this year, one thing’s coming into focus: our crowds will always be bigger than Donald Trump’s.

Proving that starts Saturday at the Women’s March in Las Vegas, and in smaller marches all around the country too. There isn’t a list long enough for the reasons for to be marching but what happened in Las Vegas, now the site of the deadliest mass shooting in American history, could easily top the list.

That’s because 98% of mass shootings are perpetrated by men, and what they have in common are histories of domestic violence. And the shootings are getting deadlier every year.

Maybe you want to march because you get that this isn’t a coincidence, it’s a culture. And how are we only seeing this in 2018?

Or maybe you’ve got a #MeToo story, in fact, come to think of it, you’ve got 20. And it hasn’t been a joyride but at least we’re having the conversation.

March because good conversations start when women get together.

And because we can’t stop now, with the most male-dominated government in decades.

Because even if you don’t want to run for office, you can register other women to and you can still lead by example every day.

Because you know that if you don’t have time to run, you have time to march. You can still donate, gear up and get a plan.

Because you’re as angry as ever but this year you want to better educate your anger, and there are a thousand different ways to make a difference.

Because one in six women are survivors of either rape or attempted rape, and you think the man in the White House is normalizing that. You’d say the 2018 midterm elections can’t come soon enough, but there’s a lot of work to do before then.

Because women make up just around 20% of the House and Senate but more than 50% of the population and you want to change that and you’re going to.

Because you know it can be better and it will be. But first you want to bring your daughter to the march.

Because you can’t believe that your country in 2018 is now the only country in the developed world without mandatory maternity leave, and has elected a man president who brags about never changing a diaper.

Because a quarter of new mothers have to go back to work within two weeks of giving birth and everyone knows that’s insane.

Because the women who know it first-hand are the ones with the fewest resources to do anything about it.

Because in certain regions, paying for full-time childcare is 85% of the median cost of rent.

Because the US – unbelievably – has the developed world’s worst maternal death rate.

Because you’re not a woman or maybe you don’t identify, but you know we need each other all the same.

Because your family came from a place Trump disparagingly calls a “shithole country” and you’re proud of your heritage. And also, you know people who say things like that won’t go away quietly.

Because this list is making you tired, but you know this march is about endurance.

Because you know sometimes if you show up, the resistance finds you.