Hi everyone! Happy 2013 and may all your wishes come true! We've said goodbye to a year full of grandeur and have flipped a new page in our time-calendar... Let's see what's in store for us!
So, in my opening post of this new year I would like to tackle a truly trifling matter: equal rights of the opposite sexes in different civilizations. Of course, I'm talking about the modern era. But, in order to find out how we came to today's status, we must take a quick walk down memory lane. As they say, the best guide for the future is the past.
The inspiration for this article came to me as I was looking through my gmail account, where I noticed some spam mail. Apparently a young female college student in New Delhi was savagely raped for six hours on a bus by a gang as she was returning home from class and passed away at a nearby hospital a few days later. The e-mail complained about how women were still being treated in the mid-east civilizations and that they must put funding into educating them about equal rights for women.
Totally understandable. I agree. They may have progressed even further ahead than Europe and the U.S. in some areas, but when in comes to treating their women, they're still a bit in the 1600's. Women have made giant leaps forward from when they would eagerly await their loved one to come home, patiently waiting for him while he was out doing who knows what. Or if in a case of adultery on their behalf, they would be stoned in the streets. And heaven forbid they had a job! That was just for the men.
Women have progressed. Of course! They're people too! Men and women should all have the same rights and nothing to divide between them. And so, incidents like these should stop being reported at such a large scale. 7 in 10 women in the world are being raped every 22 minutes! For a world that's supposed to be passed the dark ages, that's quite a frightening fact...
OK, so we've solidified the fact that women have equal rights as men. Equal freedom. At least in most parts of the world. But, what was done with that freedom that they fought so hard for? Some women have become quite recognizable. Their feats have given them a place in the history books. Like Jeanne D'Arc. Most women have become quite respectable members of society. Icons, for some. And it's for this reason that we should all be thankful for their hard earned freedom. Because a jewel shines brighter when it shines under the sun.
But, as with everything, there's another side to this story. Women's progressive freedom that becomes even more as we leap from one generation to the next, has made some women use what their ancestors fought so hard to protect. I am speaking of how women are seen in the community. Women fought so they could be taken seriously. Not just as objects that men could use for their own satisfaction, but as people with the same rights as them. Today, it seems the opposite is in effect: women are doing the best they can in order to show their outside self instead of their personality.
It is a sad fact that in these communities we like to call progressive, looks can get you a long way. A lot of women have been known to use that in order to open doors professionally. In some countries they may actually be hired with the only criteria being their image, over other, more qualified applicants.
With all these new laws that were created in order to protect them, some women today know how to play the game in order to get what they want. Dress enough to land the job and if someone crosses the boundaries the "rape" card is immediately played, which is able to land them from thousand to millions of dollars (euros, whatever your currency is) depending on the firm.
So how much freedom is enough? I guess the only true answer to that is "it depends on the person". Others live by the law, others find the way to turn it in their favor. There are many other issues such as racism that the laws can be twisted in. No matter how many laws are installed, I think it's up to us to not really need them by becoming better people. Let's not forget, we're not living on this planet for ourselves, but we're preparing it for the generations that will come after us...
So, in my opening post of this new year I would like to tackle a truly trifling matter: equal rights of the opposite sexes in different civilizations. Of course, I'm talking about the modern era. But, in order to find out how we came to today's status, we must take a quick walk down memory lane. As they say, the best guide for the future is the past.
The inspiration for this article came to me as I was looking through my gmail account, where I noticed some spam mail. Apparently a young female college student in New Delhi was savagely raped for six hours on a bus by a gang as she was returning home from class and passed away at a nearby hospital a few days later. The e-mail complained about how women were still being treated in the mid-east civilizations and that they must put funding into educating them about equal rights for women.
Totally understandable. I agree. They may have progressed even further ahead than Europe and the U.S. in some areas, but when in comes to treating their women, they're still a bit in the 1600's. Women have made giant leaps forward from when they would eagerly await their loved one to come home, patiently waiting for him while he was out doing who knows what. Or if in a case of adultery on their behalf, they would be stoned in the streets. And heaven forbid they had a job! That was just for the men.
Women have progressed. Of course! They're people too! Men and women should all have the same rights and nothing to divide between them. And so, incidents like these should stop being reported at such a large scale. 7 in 10 women in the world are being raped every 22 minutes! For a world that's supposed to be passed the dark ages, that's quite a frightening fact...
OK, so we've solidified the fact that women have equal rights as men. Equal freedom. At least in most parts of the world. But, what was done with that freedom that they fought so hard for? Some women have become quite recognizable. Their feats have given them a place in the history books. Like Jeanne D'Arc. Most women have become quite respectable members of society. Icons, for some. And it's for this reason that we should all be thankful for their hard earned freedom. Because a jewel shines brighter when it shines under the sun.
But, as with everything, there's another side to this story. Women's progressive freedom that becomes even more as we leap from one generation to the next, has made some women use what their ancestors fought so hard to protect. I am speaking of how women are seen in the community. Women fought so they could be taken seriously. Not just as objects that men could use for their own satisfaction, but as people with the same rights as them. Today, it seems the opposite is in effect: women are doing the best they can in order to show their outside self instead of their personality.
It is a sad fact that in these communities we like to call progressive, looks can get you a long way. A lot of women have been known to use that in order to open doors professionally. In some countries they may actually be hired with the only criteria being their image, over other, more qualified applicants.
With all these new laws that were created in order to protect them, some women today know how to play the game in order to get what they want. Dress enough to land the job and if someone crosses the boundaries the "rape" card is immediately played, which is able to land them from thousand to millions of dollars (euros, whatever your currency is) depending on the firm.
So how much freedom is enough? I guess the only true answer to that is "it depends on the person". Others live by the law, others find the way to turn it in their favor. There are many other issues such as racism that the laws can be twisted in. No matter how many laws are installed, I think it's up to us to not really need them by becoming better people. Let's not forget, we're not living on this planet for ourselves, but we're preparing it for the generations that will come after us...
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