Women talk about women's issues

Women want to be heard during the DNC about their issues. Here are the words of a few who sent responses to our Monday feature.

From Marty Folsom of Statesville:I'm completely on board with the messages of the "We Are Women, Hear Us" feature in the Sept. 3 Viewpoint - equal pay for equal work, health care, freedom of choice, quality education. No rape is legitimate. I would also like to see all forms of harassment and bullying addressed.

My cousin and I (I'm Democrat, she's Republican) recently had several conversations about liberal and conservative viewpoints. After going back and forth, we agreed to disagree, but didn't stop there. We started talking about the issues upon which we do agree, that seem to be lost in today's political environment. We believe addressing these issues would go a long way to solving the rigid partisanship and help us build a better country.

Some of our thoughts:

Abolish the Electoral College: One vote counts as one vote.
Meaningful Election Reform: No donations from other countries, limit the campaign time periods, all primaries/caucuses the same day, no mud-slinging. It's one thing to point out differences. Character assassination is not necessary.
Meaningful Tax Reform: Balanced budget, including balance the burden.
All legislation must be for single issues and voted up or down on its merits and necessity. No riders or amendments.
All nominations for judgeships and other federal appointments - up and down votes.

We had other thoughts, but you get the drift. If we want to fix our country, we have to fix the way we do business, first.

From Joyce Wynes:A big thanks for your article on Women's Issues in your labor day paper today.

I have been a women's activist since the early 70's for Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood so 2 years ago when the GOP won the majority in the house and started out immediately trying to legislate what women could decide to do about their health problems, I became very agitated. As the months rolled by and they failed to raise any issues about the state of our economy, but instead focused on women's bodies, I didn't know what to do to wake up my sisters of today to the problems that they were ignoring or were unaware of trying to be legislated through Congress.

Contraceptives, Personhood, Abortion, Equal Pay for Equal Work! Where is this coming from and why are they focusing on women when our country is in need of bipartisan action? I want to inspire women to speak up for their rights. I don't believe this fight is about whether you believe in abortion or you don't but whether government has the right to legislate our body decisions. That is a personal decision and each woman has to live with their decisions. Also, on June 5, Congress (GOP) voted no for the Fair Pay Act, Equal Pay for Equal Work for Women. Need I say more!

I am an fine artist and professional illustrator and have painted other political paintings to bring clarity to subjects near and dear to my heart and ones that I feel are very important to expose to the American public. It helps me work out my frustrations and seems like the way that I can do something to give back to society and give voice to the issues. I am always surprised that more artists don't use that voice in their paintings or art but it works for me.

I started a series of paintings called, "I Am Woman, I Can Fly" and I have finished 2 in the series but have plans for 4 more. I use live, flying objects such as birds, butterflies, etc., to represent women overcoming the obstacles of society and soaring above them to succeed in their endeavors.

The text says, Sisters, we're not being heard. Don't let the hard work of the past be overturned because we failed to pay attention. Speak louder.