The Mind of a Conservative Woman by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is an insightful commentary for all women regardless of their political affiliation.  Blackburn delves into maintaining the traditions of family, freedom, faith, a free market, and respecting those with differing opinions. 

She exclaimed, "Nearly a decade ago, I wrote the book, Life Equity.  My literary agent told me I should write a second book.  I laid out the premise of the new book.  I thought how women in the public eye elevated to office told me that conservative women are treated differently than liberal women.  The mainstream media will elevate liberal women yet mock and diminish conservative women."

Fairness is not always prevalent.  What the senator wants is an even playing field.  "In my book, there is a chapter where I discuss how the liberals want everybody to spout their talking points even if someone is not in complete agreement.  Some of the liberal women's organizations sent an open letter to all of the newsrooms.  It explained how people should talk to a female vice presidential candidate — basically, what could and could not be said and how to approach them.  I fired off a letter to all of the signatories and all of the newsrooms, stating that this treatment should apply to all women.  Of course, I got zero response on my letter."

The book encourages women to believe in themselves, think for themselves, and strive to be the best they can to succeed.  "When I would speak to groups of women, they would always tell me during a Q&A how they considered themselves independent, neither a Democrat or Republican.  They want to make up their minds about an issue by doing research.  I would ask them to consider the Constitution, rule of law, justice, equality, equal treatment, and to have government get off people's backs.  I emphasized how I want to make decisions on education and health care for my children, not the government.  As I say in my book, no one should think that an American woman is too weak and stupid to handle their own life."

Sometimes, people must stand their ground in what they believe, in a logical and non-combative manner.  "To many liberals, everyone is merely an economic unit, and every principle is one size fits all.  In one of my chapters, I discuss how mainstream media has misrepresented conservative women.  They, as with all women, are smart, focused, and want the best for everyone.  Yet the press says conservative women's voices do not deserve to be heard because they are pro-life, pro-military, pro-business, and pro-faith."

Women have certain issues that are important to them that include wanting to feel safe, law and order, a good economy, and school choice.  The senator noted, "I fight for family, faith, freedom, hope, and opportunity.  If people get policy correct for these big five, then they can get policy right for everything.  As I said in the book, 'family is not only at the center of my heart; it is also at the center of my reason for public service.  It should be easier for families to function and be self-sufficient and to keep the money they earned.'"

Women must find the power to stick up for themselves and their principles in a gracious and kind way, an art that someone must master, especially when constantly being put on the defensive.  "Sometimes I let pettiness and harsh words get past me.  Instead, I stay focused on my goals.  This is why I have a chapter on being a 'Happy Warrior.'  People should be able to make their point and ask questions of those they speak with."

Unfortunately, this is not what Taylor Swift did.  She called Senator Blackburn "Trump in a Wig," a "racist," a "fascist," and a "homophobe" because she voted once against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.  But the reason behind that vote was never even considered.  The senator explained, "There are some things Taylor and I would agree on.  I would look forward to talking to her about them.  In fact, let me state right here that I'd be delighted to have Taylor up to my house in Nashville.  Very few people in American politics, male or female, have worked as hard as I have on behalf of equal pay for women, protection of women from violence, or from stalking.  This is why I was honored, during the years I was in the Tennessee state Senate, to receive the Voice of the Victims award."

She further states, "The Violence Against Women Act was first placed into law in 1994.  It was a good act.  It had bipartisan support. It provided almost $2 billion to fund prosecution of crimes against women, to require restitution from those convicted of crimes against women, and to ensure that violence against women that prosecutors overlooked could still be tried in civil court.  It also established the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice.  Yet, each time the Act was renewed — in 2000, 2005, and 2013 — it was reworked and larded up with other agendas so that it ceased to resemble anything it was originally designed to do.  Let me be clear.  I want violence against women stopped.  I want the perpetrators punished.  I want law enforcement to have all the tools to hunt down the lowlifes who abuse women and end their abuse.  I want prosecutors to have the same.  I also want abused women to be able to seek redress in civil court, to defend themselves, and to generally have what they need to get healthy and get on with their lives."

In 2018, the bills language was watered down.  "Clearly, the law was being made weaker. For example, the definition of a 'crime of violence' used in the law from the beginning meant the actual, attempted, or threatened use of 'physical force.'  Now, that's language that will stop a woman from being beaten and help severely punish the perpetrator.  Yet now, as we've seen, this clear definition has been dissolved into 'coercive behavior committed, enabled, or solicited to gain or maintain power and control over a victim.' Coercive behavior?  Maintain power?  No one knows what these mean in this context."

"Besides being watered down, the new bill had a lot of other pieces of legislation that took away from protecting abused women.  Going through the legislation process often takes away specifics of the bill.  Many politicians put what they want on a piece of moving legislation instead of having a clean bill." 

Anyone who reads this book realizes that the senator is a great role model for all women, with wisdom and insight that make this book a valuable resource and a great read!

The author writes for American Thinker.  She has done book reviews and author interviews and has written a number of national security, political, and foreign policy articles.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.