What are you - a feminist?
It's a question meant to imply insult; meant to make a woman back off from whatever cause she might be espousing. "What are you - a feminist?" is the question often asked with a suggestion of a sneer, and many will trip over their own feet in their haste to assure the questioner that they are not. The only problem is; we still desperately need feminists. Of course, when you make a statement like that, you lose some of your audience right away. If you're unsure about the issue, but you're still here, please read on.
Do the violent actions of the mutaween directed against women seem too far away from home shores to be real; to lend credence to the idea that those who believe women are of equal value to their male counterparts are still very much in need? People who support the existence of the mutaween are among the immigrants coming to make your country their home.
Does the fact that there were actually some who felt the need to debate whether or not sharia law should be instituted in Canada not raise red flags of alarm for you, or send you running in search of the nearest feminist? If even the story of Amarpardeep Kaur Rai of Mississauga, Ontario, who was stabbed in the neck by her own father for refusing an arranged marriage fails to make you concerned that more and more people who believe women are not really persons of worth in their own right are coming to this country, then here's a little tidbit for your consideration.
We already have the problem here, right now. We don't need anyone to come here and bring this noxious attitude with them. We already have it. Here in Ontario, our own government is treating women as second-class citizens. The attitude of a people's government in a democracy should be viewed as being of great import. What they do leads directly to what they will tolerate and what the people as a whole will view as the norm. The actions of our government are speaking loud at the moment.
A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just been released, showing that the government is ignoring its own pay equity legislation by failing to pay the adjustments owed to working women - child-care workers and community health workers. Lawyer Mary Cornish, author of the study, says the accepted practise is to pay women 29% less than men. Whether female or male, there isn't a one of us who has not had at least one significant woman in our lives; be she wife or sister, cousin or aunt. We have certainly all had a mother. How can anyone fail to see the need to correct this inequity for all those important people? Why would anyone direct at a woman the insult implied in the question if she is a feminist, when our society needs more women and men who are exactly that?
Labour Minister Brad Duguid has apparently declared his party to be proud of how far they have come on pay equity. Which party is his doesn't really matter, because not one of the governments who have held power so far have wiped the stain of this inequity off the province's ledger. How can you feel pride in a government that continues to facilitate the existence of any situation which devalues women? Why do we as a group continue to stick our head in the sand and pretend that everybody is playing nice and there is no need for feminists or the active upholding of the values they espouse? Once again, I hear faint echoes at the edge of my society's consciousness, where most people banish them; where it is, unfortunately, too easy to ignore them. I hear the voice of Pastor Martin Niemöller as he spoke out against political apathy, and what else is a society guilty of but apathy, when they accept inequitable treatment of half of their population? Niemöller's words spoke originally of the situation in Nazi Germany, but they fit our time as well.
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
Statistics show that the rate of spousal abuse has not changed here in Canada, since 1999. Those stats show that while men are abused, it is overwhelmingly the women who are likely to sustain injury; the women who are likely to fear for their lives. How can we, as a society, be content to allow such figures to ride? Maybe it is time for us to begin asking the question "What are you - a feminist?" with a note of hope in our voices; a feeling of pride in the possibility of meeting such a person. Anyone who works to make the world a better place for any of its citizens works to make it better for us all. Who wouldn't be proud to meet such a one?
Do the violent actions of the mutaween directed against women seem too far away from home shores to be real; to lend credence to the idea that those who believe women are of equal value to their male counterparts are still very much in need? People who support the existence of the mutaween are among the immigrants coming to make your country their home.
Does the fact that there were actually some who felt the need to debate whether or not sharia law should be instituted in Canada not raise red flags of alarm for you, or send you running in search of the nearest feminist? If even the story of Amarpardeep Kaur Rai of Mississauga, Ontario, who was stabbed in the neck by her own father for refusing an arranged marriage fails to make you concerned that more and more people who believe women are not really persons of worth in their own right are coming to this country, then here's a little tidbit for your consideration.
We already have the problem here, right now. We don't need anyone to come here and bring this noxious attitude with them. We already have it. Here in Ontario, our own government is treating women as second-class citizens. The attitude of a people's government in a democracy should be viewed as being of great import. What they do leads directly to what they will tolerate and what the people as a whole will view as the norm. The actions of our government are speaking loud at the moment.
A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just been released, showing that the government is ignoring its own pay equity legislation by failing to pay the adjustments owed to working women - child-care workers and community health workers. Lawyer Mary Cornish, author of the study, says the accepted practise is to pay women 29% less than men. Whether female or male, there isn't a one of us who has not had at least one significant woman in our lives; be she wife or sister, cousin or aunt. We have certainly all had a mother. How can anyone fail to see the need to correct this inequity for all those important people? Why would anyone direct at a woman the insult implied in the question if she is a feminist, when our society needs more women and men who are exactly that?
Labour Minister Brad Duguid has apparently declared his party to be proud of how far they have come on pay equity. Which party is his doesn't really matter, because not one of the governments who have held power so far have wiped the stain of this inequity off the province's ledger. How can you feel pride in a government that continues to facilitate the existence of any situation which devalues women? Why do we as a group continue to stick our head in the sand and pretend that everybody is playing nice and there is no need for feminists or the active upholding of the values they espouse? Once again, I hear faint echoes at the edge of my society's consciousness, where most people banish them; where it is, unfortunately, too easy to ignore them. I hear the voice of Pastor Martin Niemöller as he spoke out against political apathy, and what else is a society guilty of but apathy, when they accept inequitable treatment of half of their population? Niemöller's words spoke originally of the situation in Nazi Germany, but they fit our time as well.
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
Statistics show that the rate of spousal abuse has not changed here in Canada, since 1999. Those stats show that while men are abused, it is overwhelmingly the women who are likely to sustain injury; the women who are likely to fear for their lives. How can we, as a society, be content to allow such figures to ride? Maybe it is time for us to begin asking the question "What are you - a feminist?" with a note of hope in our voices; a feeling of pride in the possibility of meeting such a person. Anyone who works to make the world a better place for any of its citizens works to make it better for us all. Who wouldn't be proud to meet such a one?
posted by aka.alias @ 3:29 PM 1 Comments 
1 Comments:
Yeah, I'm a feminist, and damn proud of the fact. Fighting for equal treatment of women should be as important as, say, fighting for the equal treatment of different races is. Yet, our society continues to belittle the plight of women -- no only women here in our own country -- but women around the world. Women in our society in fact, have come to belief that they have achieved equality. Ill informed men -- or just plain stupid -- are of the belief that women have taken it too far. There's a lot of work still to be done, and I'm afraid the fight won't be over in our lifetime.
As for the topic that started this post ... I say we give all immigrants a test of their values. If they fail ... OK, maybe remedial classes ... in their own country. And when they've finally pass, entry. Especially important for those coming from nations that don't share the values of our society.
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