Many years ago, I turned my head away from politics and refused to discuss. I even claimed that I wasn’t smart enough to “get it”. But once I had my daughters that all changed. I suddenly discovered that I could “get it” and even had an opinion. And it’s because of my daughters that I have become so involved. If I don’t try and make things better for them than I wouldn’t view myself as a good enough mother. It’s my job to protect them, not the politicians or government. And it’s the politicians that make our government so damned scary.

With all of the headlines and plots of politicians, I couldn’t help but wonder why more women didn’t seem so pissed off? And why did I keep running into those women who choose to ignore politics? So I posted a survey online and was pleased at the results. I am going to share with you those results but pay close attention to the notes after the survey!

Out of 100 respondents:
4% were 18-25 years old
37% were 26-35 years old
35% were 35-45 years old
17% were 46 to 55 years old
7% were 56+ years old

99% are registered voters in their state
1% are not

78.6% voted in their state’s last election
21.4% did not
2 persons skipped this question

89% voted in the last presidential election
11% did not

10% hear about and read a little about women’s health care issues
16% read about it, vote, but do not discuss publicly
62% read everything they can, vote, and discuss occasionally
12% read everything they can, vote, and discuss as much as possible

2% ignore the issue of abortion
45% feel abortion is somewhat important and discuss with friends
53% feel it’s very important and are advocates on either side of the issue.

5.1% ignore the issue of marriage and whom can legally marry
25.3% feel it’s somewhat important and discuss with friends
69.7% feel it’s very important and are advocates on the issue
1 person skipped this question

12% never discuss politics with family
31% discuss it once in awhile
40% discuss it often
16%  discuss politics every time they are around family
1% call them daily to discuss

2% never discuss politics with friends
69.7% discuss it once in awhile
24.2% say they discuss with friends every time they hang out
4% say they call them daily to discuss.

So here is the dirt on the survey. Firstly, I did it on Survey Monkey with a free basic account. Because of this I was limited to 10 questions. I had about 20 in mind. Also, I could only view the first 100 of 154 responses I got. I am sure you can imagine how different the survey is if I could see all of it. Another thing to consider is that women who ignore politics as a whole were less likely to even look at the survey let alone respond. I was also a bit limited by the people who I was able to get to take the survey and hoped they would pass it on (very few told me they did and I have no way knowing who did or didn’t).

As you can see by my survey, women are a force to reckon with. However, overall consensus says otherwise. The US Census Bureau states that in 2010 there were 157 million women and only 46% voted in the 2010 congressional election. Why? Do women ( much like many men) only focus on presidential elections? And does this mean that this year’s election will be a bigger deal then the 2008 elections? While I feel like too many people are pissed off to elect Mitt Romney in many of my other blogging colleagues feel otherwise. Of course I am in my happy bubble of peers who all feel the way I do and I rarely come across a Romney supporter (I have yet to even see a bumper sticker!). So maybe I am living in fantasy land and need to step up my game?

I hope that you are one of the many women who ignore politics. Because I want to shake you and ask you why on earth you will succumb your rights and freedoms to a crap load of men who want to control you.  I know. It’s not very friendly of me. A bit aggressive to be honest. But it’s because I want you to see how bad our system has gone. I want you to see the dangers that lie ahead for your daughters. I want you to stop hiding your anger and get pissed off. Yell. Scream. Shout. Do anything but sit there and just accept whatever comes your way. That is what made people like Hitler. He got to his level of craziness because people ignored what took place all around them. We can’t let history repeat itself. So no matter what, do something.

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