The Noble fight for Gender Equality
Recently we have been inundated with news stories regarding the the v******e professional athletes have perpetuated on their partners and c***dren. While it is both shocking and disheartening it is
merely evident of a much larger societal issue; the continuing epidemic of domestic v******e in our supposedly modern society. The statistics are sobering; 1 in 4 women will be victims of domestic v******e at some point in their lives (source safehorizon.org). There are approximately 160
million women in the United States according the the U.S. Census Bureau, which looking at the statistics, 40 million women could become victims of domestic v******e! That's 40,000,000 women who are hit, verbally abused, ****d, or otherwise hurt by an intimate partner.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is completely and totally unacceptable in our society, we call ourselves 'progressive', we call ourselves 'modern' we call ourselves 'equal' yet this type of v******e occurs all too often in the United States. The statistics are also similar for many developed modern countries as well.
How can we call ourselves modern, progressive or even developed if we cannot treat the majority of the population as equals that don't deserve to live in fear? The answer is, we simply cannot, we have made great progresses in medicine, science, and art yet we continue to allow an all to high rate of domestic v******e.
Although with all of these statistics in mind, it needs to be said that domestic v******e does not just effect women, every 14.6 seconds a man is assaulted by his wife or girlfriend in a domestic situation. This is without mentioning the rampant psychological abuse that is never spoken about and of which statistics are so scarce that it continues to be almost a non-issue in advocacy against domestic v******e, which is something that needs to change. It has become an issue that has deep sweeping effects on both sexes, and what is even more alarming is that the vast majority of domestic abuse cases are never reported at all, they go unspoken while the victims continue to live a shadow of self-doubt and belief that it will be an isolated incident. Statistics and victim accounts show that it is almost never isolated, that it can and will happen again, women and men who are victims need to speak up, report what happens and turn to help. Only through this will the epidemic of domestic v******e improve over time.
Domestic v******e is but one symptom of a much larger underlying disease, however. Gender inequality continues to be a cancer on our global society and is something that has seen only incremental progress in recent years. The reason for this; because the vast majority of gender equality advocates continues to be women. How can one half of the population change the minds of the population at large, the simple answer is that it cannot. Both sexes must be united in changing the way women are viewed by society, how they are valued and allowed to be equal and valuable additions to the world as a whole to the best of their ability.
Recently, while the majority of the entertainment industry grapples with the reviews of critics, the upcoming awards season, and a nude photo scandal (once again we are talking about victimization in this case, which was reprehensible) young actress Emma Watson was addressing the United Nations on this very subject in advocacy of the gender equality group HeForShe. She was passionately speaking about feminism not being about hating men, but about empowering women in fighting for their own equality. Feminism is not a dirty word, or is it word about fighting for the dominance of women, because the majority of feminists do not want dominance, all they wish for is equality. When one intellectually examines the situation this should not even be a fight, we claim equality as one of our basic rights and yet an entire group of society, a group that is now the majority of the population in the United States of America has not been equal in all 238 years of our existence as a Union. this is not an issue about changing who 'runs the show' this is an issue about fixing a terrible wrong that has been perpetuated throughout the history of our race. It is not something that women can do alone, because it is useless to fight when half of the population does not take part in the fight for a variety of reasons, or perhaps even worse; does not care at all. As a gender, men who all themselves enlightened and modern must stand up for women's rights, for the benefit of both the female gender and our society in general. That is what Ms. Watson was speaking about, that men need to become actively involved in the fight for gender equality, that it is a necessity if this movement is going to be successful.
Why are people so afraid off gender equality is a much deeper question, is it because they are afraid of more competition, as there are a score of brilliant women in every academic and professional discipline? Is it because you fear that women will gain too much political power? There recently have been a number of women in very high places and this country or the world for that matter didn't implode, and in many cases improved. Women frequently have a slightly different outlook on issues as men, perhaps this change of outlook can be good for us. Looking at the current political situation it is obvious that we need a change of some sort if we are going to improve as a nation. It is possible that the real reason (some) men are afraid of women's equality is because they are afraid of having to give up their position in society, or that too many men are threatened by the competition women would bring to the arena. This is a simply foolish idea, history proves that competition in nearly every market is a good thing, it breeds innovation and new ideas, so why are you afraid of it? A simple reason could be that too many men have been conditioned by society to be ashamed of being 'beat by a girl'. Which is quite possibly the dumbest idea that we have ever put forward as a race.
Possibly an even more saddening part in this movement is that women who have this outlook and strive for equality can sometimes be viewed as 'bossy' and 'too aggressive', traits that are called assertiveness in men, 'anti-men' or even 'unattractive'. Women should never be made to feel unattractive because they choose to fight for equality, they should be celebrated for having a progressive mental outlook and the feeling of responsibility to fight for their entire gender. Unfortunately men have used the manipulation of physical perception to influence how women view themselves throughout history. It is important that a part of this movement is that women (the ones who are affected by this mental outlook) stop deriving their feelings of attractiveness form external sources, they need to feel attractive from within. Then it will not matter how others try to make them feel, either men or women. It has recently came out that Emma Watson is being threatened with leaked nude pictures for being a feminist, to 'put her in her place'. This is beyond reprehensible, and a cowardly and disgusting act. Besides what Ms. Watson chooses to do for her enjoyment or the enjoyment of whomever she is intimate with is her choice, she should not be criticized for enjoying her life. Part of feminism is about doing what she wants with her body and sexuality, which is no one else's business.
There are two sides to this gender equality issue, one in which men are not allowed to express nearly any feelings at all without being viewed as 'not-manly'. In the U.S. suicide is the second highest killer among young men, in Britain it is the number one killer. Why is this? It is because men have been conditioned by society not to be able to express themselves when they have periods of vulnerability, they could be viewed as 'weak'. Psychologically speaking, many men view being perceived as weak as one of the worst things that can happen, it's emasculating and damages personal self-worth. Why is that? Because the prevailing mentality is that men should be strong leaders, and for some reason 'strong leaders' cannot be sensitive, which is a mentality that should have ended sometime during the Renaissance. Emotions are an integral part of our physiological composition, they are what motivates us to strive for success, to build relationships and communities, and to punish those that are unjust. Why are men conditioned against shows of emotion that are considered 'unmanly', or an even better question is why are certain emotions given gender bias at all? It again harkens back to societal conditioning, and is something that we can and must change.
The suicide rate among men is alarming and it's because, like the issue of domestic v******e, is something that is not discussed frequently enough. Just like women should be empowered to reach out in cases of domestic v******e and gender discrimination, men should reach out when there are symptoms of depression or severe vulnerability. A quote from Ms. Watson during her United Nations address puts it nicely:
"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong."
There are places in our modern mentality for both outlooks and feelings, there need not be differentiation between the two among the sexes. Both can be strong and sensitive in equal measure because our world calls for both at different times, it should be automatic that both sexes are equally prepared for the rigors of modern life. Not only will we be better prepared fro life, we will be mentally healthier over all, which has several health benefits in their own right; longer life expectancy, better overall health and healthier interaction with members of both genders. Higher quality interactions and relationships can lead to better understanding, between small groups to large portions of society, giving incalculable benefits to the entire world. We live in increasingly violent times and our entire society could use much better understanding, to perhaps resolve the issues that continue to divide our race.
As one can see, gender equality would not just change the way we interact personally, it could change the way we interact as a planet. Gender equality is something that should be fundamental to us as an evolved species and it's only through work and dedication to change that we can see this come to fruition. If we are going to continue to grow as a species, to embrace the improvements and setbacks that technology and expanding knowledge provides us than we must be united, without any preference for gender, race or any of the other thousand ways we are different. The accomplishments of women should not be thought of as 'great female accomplishments' they should be thought of as 'great accomplishments' period. Women are an integral part of the human race and their accomplishments and insights should be viewed accordingly. Instead of focusing on our differences we should be focusing on the things that unite us; a will to see change and innovation both in society and knowledge, a striving for beauty in all of its aspects and types, the wish to form bonds and relationships, and our will to improve the world in which we live.
It is my wish that all who are touched by this posting, or wish to fight for gender equality visit:
http://www.heforshe.org/
As always, thank you for reading.
merely evident of a much larger societal issue; the continuing epidemic of domestic v******e in our supposedly modern society. The statistics are sobering; 1 in 4 women will be victims of domestic v******e at some point in their lives (source safehorizon.org). There are approximately 160
million women in the United States according the the U.S. Census Bureau, which looking at the statistics, 40 million women could become victims of domestic v******e! That's 40,000,000 women who are hit, verbally abused, ****d, or otherwise hurt by an intimate partner.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is completely and totally unacceptable in our society, we call ourselves 'progressive', we call ourselves 'modern' we call ourselves 'equal' yet this type of v******e occurs all too often in the United States. The statistics are also similar for many developed modern countries as well.
How can we call ourselves modern, progressive or even developed if we cannot treat the majority of the population as equals that don't deserve to live in fear? The answer is, we simply cannot, we have made great progresses in medicine, science, and art yet we continue to allow an all to high rate of domestic v******e.
Although with all of these statistics in mind, it needs to be said that domestic v******e does not just effect women, every 14.6 seconds a man is assaulted by his wife or girlfriend in a domestic situation. This is without mentioning the rampant psychological abuse that is never spoken about and of which statistics are so scarce that it continues to be almost a non-issue in advocacy against domestic v******e, which is something that needs to change. It has become an issue that has deep sweeping effects on both sexes, and what is even more alarming is that the vast majority of domestic abuse cases are never reported at all, they go unspoken while the victims continue to live a shadow of self-doubt and belief that it will be an isolated incident. Statistics and victim accounts show that it is almost never isolated, that it can and will happen again, women and men who are victims need to speak up, report what happens and turn to help. Only through this will the epidemic of domestic v******e improve over time.
Domestic v******e is but one symptom of a much larger underlying disease, however. Gender inequality continues to be a cancer on our global society and is something that has seen only incremental progress in recent years. The reason for this; because the vast majority of gender equality advocates continues to be women. How can one half of the population change the minds of the population at large, the simple answer is that it cannot. Both sexes must be united in changing the way women are viewed by society, how they are valued and allowed to be equal and valuable additions to the world as a whole to the best of their ability.
Recently, while the majority of the entertainment industry grapples with the reviews of critics, the upcoming awards season, and a nude photo scandal (once again we are talking about victimization in this case, which was reprehensible) young actress Emma Watson was addressing the United Nations on this very subject in advocacy of the gender equality group HeForShe. She was passionately speaking about feminism not being about hating men, but about empowering women in fighting for their own equality. Feminism is not a dirty word, or is it word about fighting for the dominance of women, because the majority of feminists do not want dominance, all they wish for is equality. When one intellectually examines the situation this should not even be a fight, we claim equality as one of our basic rights and yet an entire group of society, a group that is now the majority of the population in the United States of America has not been equal in all 238 years of our existence as a Union. this is not an issue about changing who 'runs the show' this is an issue about fixing a terrible wrong that has been perpetuated throughout the history of our race. It is not something that women can do alone, because it is useless to fight when half of the population does not take part in the fight for a variety of reasons, or perhaps even worse; does not care at all. As a gender, men who all themselves enlightened and modern must stand up for women's rights, for the benefit of both the female gender and our society in general. That is what Ms. Watson was speaking about, that men need to become actively involved in the fight for gender equality, that it is a necessity if this movement is going to be successful.
Why are people so afraid off gender equality is a much deeper question, is it because they are afraid of more competition, as there are a score of brilliant women in every academic and professional discipline? Is it because you fear that women will gain too much political power? There recently have been a number of women in very high places and this country or the world for that matter didn't implode, and in many cases improved. Women frequently have a slightly different outlook on issues as men, perhaps this change of outlook can be good for us. Looking at the current political situation it is obvious that we need a change of some sort if we are going to improve as a nation. It is possible that the real reason (some) men are afraid of women's equality is because they are afraid of having to give up their position in society, or that too many men are threatened by the competition women would bring to the arena. This is a simply foolish idea, history proves that competition in nearly every market is a good thing, it breeds innovation and new ideas, so why are you afraid of it? A simple reason could be that too many men have been conditioned by society to be ashamed of being 'beat by a girl'. Which is quite possibly the dumbest idea that we have ever put forward as a race.
Possibly an even more saddening part in this movement is that women who have this outlook and strive for equality can sometimes be viewed as 'bossy' and 'too aggressive', traits that are called assertiveness in men, 'anti-men' or even 'unattractive'. Women should never be made to feel unattractive because they choose to fight for equality, they should be celebrated for having a progressive mental outlook and the feeling of responsibility to fight for their entire gender. Unfortunately men have used the manipulation of physical perception to influence how women view themselves throughout history. It is important that a part of this movement is that women (the ones who are affected by this mental outlook) stop deriving their feelings of attractiveness form external sources, they need to feel attractive from within. Then it will not matter how others try to make them feel, either men or women. It has recently came out that Emma Watson is being threatened with leaked nude pictures for being a feminist, to 'put her in her place'. This is beyond reprehensible, and a cowardly and disgusting act. Besides what Ms. Watson chooses to do for her enjoyment or the enjoyment of whomever she is intimate with is her choice, she should not be criticized for enjoying her life. Part of feminism is about doing what she wants with her body and sexuality, which is no one else's business.
There are two sides to this gender equality issue, one in which men are not allowed to express nearly any feelings at all without being viewed as 'not-manly'. In the U.S. suicide is the second highest killer among young men, in Britain it is the number one killer. Why is this? It is because men have been conditioned by society not to be able to express themselves when they have periods of vulnerability, they could be viewed as 'weak'. Psychologically speaking, many men view being perceived as weak as one of the worst things that can happen, it's emasculating and damages personal self-worth. Why is that? Because the prevailing mentality is that men should be strong leaders, and for some reason 'strong leaders' cannot be sensitive, which is a mentality that should have ended sometime during the Renaissance. Emotions are an integral part of our physiological composition, they are what motivates us to strive for success, to build relationships and communities, and to punish those that are unjust. Why are men conditioned against shows of emotion that are considered 'unmanly', or an even better question is why are certain emotions given gender bias at all? It again harkens back to societal conditioning, and is something that we can and must change.
The suicide rate among men is alarming and it's because, like the issue of domestic v******e, is something that is not discussed frequently enough. Just like women should be empowered to reach out in cases of domestic v******e and gender discrimination, men should reach out when there are symptoms of depression or severe vulnerability. A quote from Ms. Watson during her United Nations address puts it nicely:
"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong."
There are places in our modern mentality for both outlooks and feelings, there need not be differentiation between the two among the sexes. Both can be strong and sensitive in equal measure because our world calls for both at different times, it should be automatic that both sexes are equally prepared for the rigors of modern life. Not only will we be better prepared fro life, we will be mentally healthier over all, which has several health benefits in their own right; longer life expectancy, better overall health and healthier interaction with members of both genders. Higher quality interactions and relationships can lead to better understanding, between small groups to large portions of society, giving incalculable benefits to the entire world. We live in increasingly violent times and our entire society could use much better understanding, to perhaps resolve the issues that continue to divide our race.
As one can see, gender equality would not just change the way we interact personally, it could change the way we interact as a planet. Gender equality is something that should be fundamental to us as an evolved species and it's only through work and dedication to change that we can see this come to fruition. If we are going to continue to grow as a species, to embrace the improvements and setbacks that technology and expanding knowledge provides us than we must be united, without any preference for gender, race or any of the other thousand ways we are different. The accomplishments of women should not be thought of as 'great female accomplishments' they should be thought of as 'great accomplishments' period. Women are an integral part of the human race and their accomplishments and insights should be viewed accordingly. Instead of focusing on our differences we should be focusing on the things that unite us; a will to see change and innovation both in society and knowledge, a striving for beauty in all of its aspects and types, the wish to form bonds and relationships, and our will to improve the world in which we live.
It is my wish that all who are touched by this posting, or wish to fight for gender equality visit:
http://www.heforshe.org/
As always, thank you for reading.
10 years ago
I'm truly truly sorry for your experiences with violence in a relationship, so happy that you've moved on.
To be honest I'm not surprised about the alleged attack on Emma Watson, whether it's factual or not. Whether there are pictures or not shouldn't matter, she is an adult and can make her own decisions about sexuality. She should not have to worry about becoming a victim, although if she does I have a feeling she will handle herself with the utmost class. You are right in saying that they are cut from the same cloth as the jihadists, which are a threat to the advancement of our entire race. It is my fear that these people will have to dealt with in the form of extreme aggression, it will never be my wish to see people die but if a group is going to threaten the entire world than so be it.
Unfortunately there are numerous powerful forces in this world which are ideologically and actively against universal peace and equality, which is why feminism is relentlessly fought against and denigrated.
Those who would use the anonymity of the internet to persecute Emma Watson for speaking her mind, are cut from the same cloth as the fundamentalist jihadists presently wreaking the worst genocide across the middle East. It's all about conquest of one kind or another.