Being a feminist simply means that you are aware of/tuned in to the human rights of women. It means that we watch out for each other (men included) and that we take care of, stand up for, and protect all of our sisters. That can mean providing a safe place for someone to stay. It can mean baby sitting for a night so your friend can have some sanity time. It can simply mean walking someone to her car at night, or going to the restroom in pairs. That doesn't sound so radical, does it?!
But also..
After waking up to the news report that out of college women in the US only make 80% of men's salaries, and that after 10 years, we only make 60%; after seeing several of my friends panic because in my profession (teaching - made up of mostly women) there is NO maternity leave, and day care for 2 kids costs $700 per week, more than the take home pay of a teacher; after meeting many women who have been abandoned and abused, physically and/or emotionally; I figured that I'm more than mad about how our Western "progressive" society treats women! (And I won't even get into politics or religion!)
But then, this is hardly new news - and that prompts me to yell, "What the hell?!"
It turns out that I am not the only one who has equality on the brain these days. One of my awesome litmag scalawags introduced me Equality Now on our community centered web space called Communitas. (Thanks Hannah! You ROCK!) This may be a good place to start..
About Equality Now
Equality Now was founded in 1992 to work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world. Working with national human rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses. Through its Women’s Action Network of concerned groups and individuals around the world, Equality Now:* distributes information about human rights violations
* takes action to protest these violations
* brings public attention to human rights violations against women
The Women’s Action Network is committed to voicing a worldwide call for justice and equality for women. Issues of urgent concern to Equality Now include rape, domestic violence, reproductive rights, trafficking of women, female genital mutilation, and the denial of equal access to economic opportunity and political participation.
Human rights violations against women have historically been denied the attention and concern of international organizations, national governments, traditional human rights groups and the media. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of girls and women around the globe continue to endure debilitating and often fatal human rights abuses.
4 comments:
How do you have time to write a post at 5:30 in the morning!! That's just crazy!!!
it doesn't seem so crazy when you wake up at 4am because you can't sleep. i thought i was using my time wisely!
i think i'll be one of those codgers who goes to bed at 5pm and wakes up at 4am for coffee and the paper.
i miss college when i went to bed at 4am and got up at 5pm..
I once saw an awesome bumper sticker that said, "Feminism is the radical idea that women are people." Why is it so hard for that idea to catch on? I recently heard someone say they didn't think a woman could be president because it's just too hard a job. WTF. I wanted to ask just what it was about possessing a penis that qualifies one to be president, but all that came out was, "Wha..." And this not from a crotchety old man, but from a woman - a woman old enough to know better, but still young enough to, well, know better. Not only must we fight against men who say, "That's just a woman's place." We also must struggle with women who say, "That's just our place."
And why is equal pay for equal work not a priority? To pay any other group 60% of what they earned would be illegal. It just seems that there has been no real room in the our social consciousness for women’s issues since the 70's. I must admit, I don't know much about the ERA amendment, (what is was or why it failed) but I do know that the American people didn't give a damn about the Taliban and their tremendous atrocities against women until that day in September.
p.s. I like trouble making, bra burning, men hating, Ani Difranco listening "abominators" or (dare I say) "dykes". Ya'll are way fun!
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