I got to thinking about oppression.
EB8EN8 TREISTER HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL SCULPTURE
MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA USA
Of what it does to an individual, what it does to groups and the lasting impact it can have on a society. Globally oppressed states have a tendency at times to become radicalized.
These are, of course, my thoughts and observances that I’m jotting down here. I try to look at this world with thoughtful contemplation. Sometimes this is not always the case though.
Sometimes it is just with a sense of sadness and at other times with hope and wonderment. I prefer the latter.
There has been a shift lately with with the #metoo and #timesup movements. They’ve had a powerful effect and so they should. In fact, it is long overdue.
And it is not just those of us who’ve been assaulted or preyed upon sexually. It is about being categorized as ‘less than’ or viewed as an ‘accessory’.
I too have been sexually assaulted and been made to feel as if my worth in this world was of little to no importance. And I know the percentage of women who have experienced these issues as well is staggering.
I was watching a news feature on CBC last week. Iranian women were standing in public , their hijab on sticks being waved in the air as if to surrender.
It was anything but!
You see they were protesting against the laws in Iran that make it compulsory for a woman to wear the hijab while in public.
The first woman to do this was promptly arrested. So began the protests and the campaign of #whereisshe?
February 11th, 2018 marked the 39th year since Iran made it a law that a woman cannot go out in public without wearing the hijab. I have included the link to an article on this subject at the bottom of this page. To date about 29 women have been arrested and it is likely exceeded that number at this writing.
Oppression of women has been a global issue for thousands of years, if not from the beginning of our time. And I wonder why this is?
There are men now feeling a little intimidated by this movement. To those men who feel they are being ‘silenced’ I say this.
What you feel is but a shadow of what many women have lived with for thousands of years.
We have lived our lives in fear, lived our lives without a voice and have had to abide by laws forbidding us rights over our own bodies. And this is just the tip of the sexual divide. And that women in areas of this world still cannot show their face in public and are circumcised (mutilation of female genitalia) in this day and age is so very tragic.
Men will never know the full impact of how they’ve treated their counterparts as there really are no words.
What we need to do is move forward. It starts from the cradle. We need to teach and build that education on respect, love and equality.
Let’s give it a try, okay?
http://theconversation.com/how-iran-uses-a-compulsory-hijab -law-to-control-its-citizens-and-why-they-are-protesting-91439
Power of One by Nancy 