Violence Against Women - What we in the US take for granted

[AtLast]

The thread is to promote global awareness of violense against women and to view sexism outside of our own little backyard.

http://www.ifeminists.net/introducti...104granju.html


Feminism's Fourth Wave
Women are doing nearly everything men do, but...
November 4, 2003
by Katie Allison Granju


Last year, during the U.S. assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, my seven-year old daughter, Jane seemed truly puzzled by the photos of Afghani women that dominated the news. Why, she wanted to know, did those women want to wear clothing that covered them from head to toe? Weren't they hot? How could they run or even smile at other people? Why weren't there ever interviews on television with any Afghani women? What was meant when it was said that now, women and girls in that country could read and write again?

I explained to Jane about the cultural and religious restrictions faced by these particular mothers and daughters, and she listened, mouth hanging open in vivid disbelief. She peppered me with questions about every aspect of the lives of Afghanistan's female population, and seemed utterly astounded when I told her that there are actually many places and cultures around the world in which girls cannot go to school; choose what they will wear or whom they will marry; own property; or vote.

As sad as it made me to explain the state of so many of the world's women to the most important girl in my life, I realized that the fact that Jane found this information so incomprehensible represented something very positive. The environment in which my daughter is growing into adulthood is one in which she sees few, if any restrictions on what is possible for her. Her American girlhood is very different from the one in which I came of age only a few decades ago.

When I was Jane's age, my working, feminist mother was an anomaly among the women I knew, and my parents had to make a conscious effort to be sure I understood that, although most doctors, police officers, and engineers were men, this didn't mean that "only" men could hold these jobs. My parents had to be ever-vigilant to protect both their daughters from being held back by unfair and sexist limitations, and they worked to be sure that we were exposed to art, music, and great ideas by women. They ensured that we had "Free to Be You and Me" books and records around the house, and a lifetime subscription to Ms. Magazine in our mailbox.

Today, however, the world has changed enough that parents don't have to make these kinds of special efforts to promote a sense of equality and possibility in our young daughters. Basic feminist consciousness has become an organic part of our culture, and we are all the better for it.

My third grade girl gets her news and information from terrific female journalists, and she is personally acquainted with women lawyers, priests, doctors, firefighters, farmers, athletes, social workers, and artists. Jane is an aggressive and successful competitor in her own chosen sport, and she enjoys listening to music by everyone from 'tween queen Hilary Duff to riot-grrls Sleater-Kinney.

Unlike my own parents, I do not feel compelled to pontificate on the wrong-headedness of rigid gender roles every time I see Jane playing with her dolls. I'm confident that she understands clearly that motherhood is not incompatible with professional achievement or civic engagement.

Also different from my own childhood as the daughter of '70s "women's libbers," Jane and her friends don't seem to feel any conflict between their femininity and their power. When I was a little girl, equality often meant trying to act or look like the little boys. Jane, however, is growing up in a pop culture infused with grrl-power -- from the Powerpuff Girls to Jessica Lynch. I observe her and her little friends playing superheroes, but their superheroes proudly wear sparkly pink capes as they save the world.

While all of this progress is terrific, I also recognize that my daughter is growing up in a society where women still earn less money than men for performing the same work; where women continue to live in realistic, ever-present fear of sexual assault; and where girls are still too often discouraged from studying math or science. There is still work ahead for her generation of rising young feministas. But as I watch her playing things like "President Barbie solves the Mideast peace crisis" with her friends, I feel hopeful.


Katie Allison Granju lives in Knoxville and is the mother of three children. She is the author of Attachment Parenting (Simon and Schuster, 1999) and her website is www.locoparentis.blogspot.com. This article first appeared in Metro Pulse Online.

[Nat]

I find it interesting that when I typed "violence" into google's search engine, "violence against women" was the first choice in the auto-fill list.

[AtLast]

WHOOPS! That's violence below!! Thanks, Nat!

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

The thread is to promote global awareness of violense against women and to view sexism outside of our own little backyard.

http://www.ifeminists.net/introducti...104granju.html


Feminism's Fourth Wave
Women are doing nearly everything men do, but...
November 4, 2003
by Katie Allison Granju


Last year, during the U.S. assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, my seven-year old daughter, Jane seemed truly puzzled by the photos of Afghani women that dominated the news. Why, she wanted to know, did those women want to wear clothing that covered them from head to toe? Weren't they hot? How could they run or even smile at other people? Why weren't there ever interviews on television with any Afghani women? What was meant when it was said that now, women and girls in that country could read and write again?

I explained to Jane about the cultural and religious restrictions faced by these particular mothers and daughters, and she listened, mouth hanging open in vivid disbelief. She peppered me with questions about every aspect of the lives of Afghanistan's female population, and seemed utterly astounded when I told her that there are actually many places and cultures around the world in which girls cannot go to school; choose what they will wear or whom they will marry; own property; or vote.

As sad as it made me to explain the state of so many of the world's women to the most important girl in my life, I realized that the fact that Jane found this information so incomprehensible represented something very positive. The environment in which my daughter is growing into adulthood is one in which she sees few, if any restrictions on what is possible for her. Her American girlhood is very different from the one in which I came of age only a few decades ago.

When I was Jane's age, my working, feminist mother was an anomaly among the women I knew, and my parents had to make a conscious effort to be sure I understood that, although most doctors, police officers, and engineers were men, this didn't mean that "only" men could hold these jobs. My parents had to be ever-vigilant to protect both their daughters from being held back by unfair and sexist limitations, and they worked to be sure that we were exposed to art, music, and great ideas by women. They ensured that we had "Free to Be You and Me" books and records around the house, and a lifetime subscription to Ms. Magazine in our mailbox.

Today, however, the world has changed enough that parents don't have to make these kinds of special efforts to promote a sense of equality and possibility in our young daughters. Basic feminist consciousness has become an organic part of our culture, and we are all the better for it.

My third grade girl gets her news and information from terrific female journalists, and she is personally acquainted with women lawyers, priests, doctors, firefighters, farmers, athletes, social workers, and artists. Jane is an aggressive and successful competitor in her own chosen sport, and she enjoys listening to music by everyone from 'tween queen Hilary Duff to riot-grrls Sleater-Kinney.

Unlike my own parents, I do not feel compelled to pontificate on the wrong-headedness of rigid gender roles every time I see Jane playing with her dolls. I'm confident that she understands clearly that motherhood is not incompatible with professional achievement or civic engagement.

Also different from my own childhood as the daughter of '70s "women's libbers," Jane and her friends don't seem to feel any conflict between their femininity and their power. When I was a little girl, equality often meant trying to act or look like the little boys. Jane, however, is growing up in a pop culture infused with grrl-power -- from the Powerpuff Girls to Jessica Lynch. I observe her and her little friends playing superheroes, but their superheroes proudly wear sparkly pink capes as they save the world.

While all of this progress is terrific, I also recognize that my daughter is growing up in a society where women still earn less money than men for performing the same work; where women continue to live in realistic, ever-present fear of sexual assault; and where girls are still too often discouraged from studying math or science. There is still work ahead for her generation of rising young feministas. But as I watch her playing things like "President Barbie solves the Mideast peace crisis" with her friends, I feel hopeful.


Katie Allison Granju lives in Knoxville and is the mother of three children. She is the author of Attachment Parenting (Simon and Schuster, 1999) and her website is www.locoparentis.blogspot.com. This article first appeared in Metro Pulse Online.

[AtLast]

Given what has been going on in places like Afghanistan and Eygpt concerning violence against women and extrememy brave women in these countries speaking out (attempting to become government officials, stonning, etc), I thought I'd bump this thread.

[Words]

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Words

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

I see what you are saying. I don't recall exactly what was going on when I first did this thread. Yes, my own back yard is a mess.

What I often have problems with here in the US is a US-centric outlook about violence against women- not much awareness of how globally, women are treated. That we need to look at all of the issues and cultural variables around the world that women face. That is what I was trying to get at. Believe me, I get what continues here in the US.

[Novelafemme]

Originally Posted by AtLast

I see what you are saying. I don't recall exactly what was going on when I first did this thread. Yes, my own back yard is a mess.

What I often have problems with here in the US is a US-centric outlook about violence against women- not much awareness of how globally, women are treated. That we need to look at all of the issues and cultural variables around the world that women face. That is what I was trying to get at. Believe me, I get what continues here in the US.

I recently took a class on transnational feminisms, which is precicely what AtLast is referencing in her above post. and, yes, the us has a very us-centric perspective on just about every human rights issue you can think of. take "third-world" countries for example. "third-world" as compared to what? the u.s.? does this mean we are a "first world" country? and if so, what criteria did we meet in order to exact a first place status?

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Words

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

Also took a bit of an issue with this thread for the same reason. I really dislike it when people from North America or Europe talk about "what we take for granted" as far as human rights. Are women's rights violated with such frequency and to such excessive degrees in developed nations vs. many developing nations? No, evidently women's rights have come along way in Canada, the US, France, Germany, the UK etc. However, just because they have come a long way does not mean we should say that we are taking anything for granted when we discuss violence against women in developed nations. It's the same argument I think I've heard frequently even on this forum about queer/trans rights worldwide...that despite the homophobia and transphobia that still exist in the west and other developed regions, that because somebody has it worse we are "taking things for granted."

To me that comes off as though we're "whining" when we try to fight for equal rights in developed nations. But the truth is someone will always have it worse, and that does not mean that we are taking anything for granted in the developed/western world as far as our own rights. It does not mean that women's rights in one nation are more important than women's rights in another nation. Both are equally important.

Just a month or two ago I was appalled to hear that some U.S. states had passed or reinstated laws that allowed police to conduct criminal investigations against women who had miscarriages, in order to make absolutely certain that the woman had not somehow induced the miscarriage herself. So not only are the police and the government policing women's bodies by not allowing them access to abortion resources, but they are actively pursuing miscarriage cases. This is violence against women. No, it's not acid thrown in a woman's face, but it is still violence against women. It is still policing women's bodies. It is still completely atrocious and it is happening in a western "developed" nation.

I just feel that the wording of this thread is problematic and that people need to understand that no matter how far rights for marginalized people (including women!) have come in the west, they still have very far to go.

As far as US centrism...well yes, I think a lot of the issues discussed on the forum are extremely US-centric...however, that should not detract from the struggles of women in the US. I'm not accusing you of that or anything else, AtLast, but I'm just saying that wording can be "dangerous" as far as what it may convey to some.