Most of the time I try to stay positive on the blog, and that's because I try to stay positive in life. But sometimes I read things and I can't see straight, I'm so enraged!
Ok, first of all, I promise I'm not a raving feminist. But I am a woman and I do not believe that women have equal standing in the world. I've talked about this before in regards to literature written by women, etc. I just read two very important news items that enforce this truth and make me grateful for just how much we do have in the United States.
Afghanistan is seriously messed up but nothing proves it more than imprisoning women because they were victims of rape. I mean, really? It's hard to believe such injustice is possible.
Russia has deeper problems than the ones we're currently facing. Apparently, Russians believe sexual harrassment is necessary to ensure the survival of the human race. Oh, really? Because we're having a huge shortage of births in the world, so the best possible answer is to force women to have sex they don't want to have. To make them think they must have it to keep a job. For the pleasure and satisfaction of men.
I read a really great book earlier this year that touched upon this issue. In Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage, one of the men owned a porn company. He struggled over how he felt about women throughout the book--lying to his daughter about what he did, but at another point in the book, saying men were superior because if there was a war, they would win. Later on in turn, his daughter was sexually molested by a man that may well have been one of his customers.
And that's the point isn't it? The things we do...they are not in isolation. We lie and the effects are felt deeper and further than we know. We cheat on our taxes and someone else ends up on the street. We give a donation, and a village is saved. Our kind word makes someone's day and they share a kind word etc. and so on.
I'm as guilty as the next person of this..of seeing only how things affect me of not realizing that my life, my actions..they are part of a bigger whole.
Would that the men raping and imprisoning women or bending them to their will would see it, too.
(HT: Children Foreign Policy Blogs)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I'm Enraged!!
Posted by Amy at 7:31 PM
Labels: in the news, social justice
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6 comments:
You, my dear, passionate reading friend, need to pick up books by Zach Hunter:-) And that's ALL I'm saying!!
All of this is so true. I can't believe that all of that goes on in those countries. It's just not fair to women there.
Wow... I knew about the Afghan stuff. horrible.
The Russia stuff was new to me. Can you believe it? 100% of women report being sexually harassed. That's just sick.
As a man, I, too, get mad about these things.
They talk about how here in the USA we have a long way to go still on things like race relations and gender equality. All things may not be perfect here, but sometimes it might help people to take their eyes off the mirror and look around to others - they just might feel grateful about a few things they had been mad about. These two instances are, unfortunately, not uncommon. The truly sad thing is that the Afghani women in prison may be safer than at home, where they could become victims of honor killings that are often overlooked by the authorities.
As long as men regard woman as a possession an object to owned instead of as a mother or a daughter there will always be this horrible behavior by men.
Thomas
Imprisoning women because they have been raped will just get them raped again by the guards! Thank you for sharing this horrifying, but necessary to know information! It makes us appreciate our own lives more, and gives us an opportunity to look into trying to make a difference.
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