Bix Demimondaine

How can you not be intrigued by bixi-babes, Liliths from the cycling half-world, suicide tattoo wheel wenches? Demimondaines was what they called girls who accepted bicycles for carnal favors or acted as if marriage meant nothing in pursuit of fun. Before that society cast aspersion with terms concubines, courtesans, odalisques or prostitutes. Then it became “panks” for disciples of Emmeline Pankhurst, suffragettes beaten and raped in their struggle to secure the right to vote. Chippies, femme fatales, flappers, hardboiled Hawksian or modern women followed. These days rap artists reduce women to body parts while vulgar minds label them escorts, feminists, gold diggers, nymphos, porn stars, skanks, and skirts. What of equals, lovers, mothers, partners?

Participatory democracy is a relatively new phenomenon. Only a few men had a chance to vote before suffragism extended it to a few women qualified by age or rank. It’s been one century that the other half of population commenced in Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, and Norway. Though promised, Saudi women are still prohibited; the only other place on earth is Vatican City. Why? Subjugation. Slavery has only been abolished by law, not in uniform practice. Clerics, criminals, dictators and elected officials routinely break laws. People forget the bloodshed and sacrifices forebears endured to obtain rights that, in an instant, can be denied, even eliminated. At NYU, Elizabeth Jose described how bicycling can still emancipate untrammeled womanhood as it did before 1900.

For the first time in U.S. history a woman is running for its presidency against a contumelious misogynist. That alone ought to call entire gender above age to ballot boxes. Suited to serve? Dependency is a human, not primarily female, condition. Trying to remain nonjudgmental and observational, admit lambasting conservatives, dictators, fascists, and nazis who all seek to control and dominate others. Understand it’s the direct result of always being disappointed and never getting heard. Disorganized activities are human and natural since needs vary by individual. You get to control yourself only. To divide for conquerers’ sakes ignores consequential stakes. Enforcing unilateral conformity polarizes populations, results in random losses, and sustains terrorism. Candidates ought to run on experience in office and merit of message. Only one among those running held a cabinet position, negotiated international deals, and once lived in White House. Rest are comparative amateurs.

According to David Byrne, voters live in echo chambers where limited exposure is reinforced by social media, negative opinions are continually fortified, and rational thinking is woefully deselected. To expect everything to fail or go wrong best represents common sense. Must remind you what politically savvy Hunter S Thompson so aptly said, “Anybody who thinks that, 'it doesn't matter who's President,' has never been drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid war on the other side of the world - or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property - or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons - or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.” Amen.