We have come a long way since the previous century. There have been plenty of victories for feminism, including the franchise, the right to an abortion, and the right to equal pay. Moreover, sexual equality is now enshrined and protected in law. I get to go to school, high school and university should I choose. So why am I making this argument?
Because it seems like we’ve reached a stalemate point, least in modern democracies. There is this notion that there is nothing left for the feminist movement to do in most Western countries. And because this is so – although I thoroughly disagree on this point as well – we have adopted a lazy, cultural-relativist position when it comes to women’s plight around the world.
Feminism has plenty of more to achieve, on the global front, as well as home. Worldwide, women do two-thirds of all work, earn one-tenth of all income and own one-hundredth of all property. Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women. Three hundred million women have no access to contraception. 100 million missing baby girls have suffered the consequences of gendercide in China as a result of its one-child policy. More than 80% of the world’s 50 million refugees and displaced people are women and children. Every year, 2 million girls under 16 are coerced, abducted, or trafficked into the sex industry.
It is absolutely disturbing to me that any human could watch a mother give birth, realize the baby is a girl and in disgust throw it into a slops pail to die while calling it a “useless thing” a scene Chinese writer Xinran Xue describes when talking about gendercide.
We were all horrified at the story of Afghan teenage girl Aishia whose husband cut off her nose and ears because she attempted to escape her family’s abuse. Iraqi Dua Khalil – another teenage girl – was stoned to death for daring to have a boyfriend. An “honor killing” it was called.
Khaled Mahmood used the same pretense to justify the killing of his sister who had, according to him, shamed his family by having a relationship with a man he didn’t approve of. The total time he spent in jail? Six days of custody. No charges were made. He remains a free man.
Why do feminist responsibilities stop at the border? Why is there so little public outcry at the atrocities women are facing? Why do we continue to passively accept traditional “cultural” practices that assert male authority and continue to disadvantage women?
Somali born, Aayan Hirsi Ali is on point when she speaks of the West’s “misguided politeness” in opting to tolerate the despicable treatment of women and girls and excuse it as cultural custom or religious rites.
In our own country, according to research, one out of every four women has experienced domestic violence, although this number could be higher in reality. Regarding representation in government, women currently compose 28% of the Macedonian parliament, and 17% in ministerial posts. Furthermore, there is constant discrimination of Roma women and young girls who are repeatedly deprived of education, work, health insurance, and social programs and are still facing unequal representation in public and political life. A 2008 Amnesty International Report estimated that about 66% of them only find employment in our so-called "grey economy." Moreover, they experience high rates of domestic violence and many situations of unpaid and exploitative labor. Obviously, just because we have the legal structures in place does not mean we have been successful in their implementation.
And yes, perhaps feminism has done well for you and me. But you know what? We are part of a privileged club. And it’s mot just about us.
“So what do we do,” is what some might ask. “What is the solution?” Well the answer is, there isn’t a simple solution: these are complex and deeply entrenched issues. What we absolutely must do is keep the dialogue open. We must keep emphasizing the value of discourse. We must keep talking about the problems because we cannot find solutions until we are open and honest about them. And this – this takes courage. It’s time to be open and audaciously vocal about what is going on in the lives of women around us. Now, more than ever, we must keep the feminism torch from burning out. We can do it.
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