The theme of the 2020 Women’s March is “Women Rising.” Which gives rise to this clever headline in USA Today:

Women Rising but Numbers Falling; 2020 March Tries to Reenergize amid Flagging Enthusiasm

The first Women’s March, which officially kicked off The Resistance, held the weekend after President Trump’s inauguration, overwhelmed Washington. The subways were packed with women in pink hats and getting around town was almost impossible.

This year the numbers are not looking good for the March. Early in the week the Washington Post reported that only about 4,500 had signed up to participate. Organizers said that they were expecting more than twice that number. In other words, however you count, the Women’s March is a slim shadow of its former self.

The March has been plagued by PR disasters. Much of its top echelon was forced into early retirement after a 2018 article in the Table reported on shocking anti-Semitic statements and ties, including to Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, among the leaders. As a result, Sharia law advocate and March co-chair Linda Sarsour resigned from the March, along with founders Tamika Mallory and Bob Bland.  

In something of an understatement, Wikipedia notes, “The controversy and allegations of antisemitism against the Women's March leadership were considered to have contributed to significantly lower turnout than in previous years and resulted in a number of defections by local chapters and, in some cases, discrete marches in major cities.” Ya think?

The Women’s March has always been an angry affair. Libby Emmons, who marched previously, explains that the vitriol and refusal to respect women holding different views will keep her home this year. It is a piece well worth reading.

I don’t kid myself that the anger has burned out or that the women who are not marching this year are refraining because they are looking at the flourishing economy and thinking of the unprecedented opportunities for women. But it was never a march that represented the majority of women or respected views of those who do not share their beliefs.

As we put it in an IWF petition:

Millions of women regret that the so-called Women’s March movement neither represents them nor respects their beliefs. To assert that all women think alike or march under one political banner isn't progress. It’s old-fashioned stereotyping and groupthink—and it’s unfair. All women deserve to be heard and respected.

Join us. Join the rising tide of women who stand against the regrettable divisiveness of the Women’s March movement. Stand up for diversity of thought and political ideology—and the freedom to think, feel, live, and vote any way we want. Celebrate that women have come a long way.

We were always better than the angry and monolighic Women’s March.