This is how Girl on the Right started in the first place. I was hanging out on a BB (which shall remain nameless) which was populated mostly by women. One of the topics was to tell a deep dark thought you've had, one that you maybe don't want others to know. The thought I had (after having worked in HR for over a year) was that it is right and just that women are paid less than men, because a man will not force his company to pay him to stay home having babies (maternity leave), and that if I were a small business owner, I would never employ women, because the law has mat leave so heavily protected, that in the end I would be paying them more than the men, but for less work.
I was kicked of the board. Seriously - I received an email from the administrator, telling me that perhaps I should find somewhere new to hang out, because I was no longer welcome there. Apparently, they'd gotten their ovaries in a twist. Hey - they asked the question!
So I decided I would create a place where conservative women could come and feel at home, knowing that they are not the only ones. Strangely, the bulk of my readership is men. Oh well, at least I'm not alone. Or am I?
As I delve deeper and deeper into the world of conservative politics, I find that I am alienating my friends. I don't mean to, really. It's just that I have different opinions on things now, and different interests. My view of the world has changed, and different things make me happy and angry now.
My friends haven't changed much from where they were before. They seem to ask for more now, though. Having always been liberals, they have always had certain things handed to them. They worked less, but they always had money, and roofs over their heads.Now as they get older, they are still much like children, thinking they can work in low-paying or part-time jobs, but the rent will still find a way to get paid. They believe that your money and mine should go into funding things that serve no real purpose, like gay marriage legislation and the national daycare program. And don't get me started on socialized medicine, despite my best friend nearly losing her mother to medical incompetence. They are all very happy to let things go along as they are, and let government think for them. They are happy believing that everyone is nice (if misunderstood), and that no one wants to hurt us, so we should just stop scare mongering. After all, it's all the Americans' fault. Those bastards.
When speaking to an old friend of mine today, I was telling her about my wonderful time in Ohio, and how I would be perfectly happy to pack my bags (again!), and correct the mistake made at my birth - I should have been born there. I will not repeat the bile that spewed forth from her on the subject of the Great Satan. She travels to Florida (Ack! Bush-land!) at least twice a year, but she seems to not notice that it is not only in America, but Republican America.
When I speak to my dearest friend Heather, whose hand I held all day on 9/11, she tells me that I'm overreacting, and after all, America is much more aggressive and contentious than Canada, and I should stop eyeing every Muslim with suspicion.
Is it me? Have I gone too far, and become a fanatic? Or have I just moved on far enough to feel like a stranger among friends? I'd like to be able to shrug, and say I'll make new ones, but how does a conservative go about making like-minded friends in Toronto, anyway? The pickings are pretty slim, consisting mostly of nerds and old men. The occasional religious housewife - but I'm a bit too rough around the edges for them. So where do I fit in?
Oh, right. America.
