Saturday, August 29, 2009

hatred of women

A Global Defiance Against Misogyny - No Exceptions, No Excuses, No Rationalizations

Of all the forms of institutionalized hate that our society faces today, none is more self-destructive to the continuing survival of the fabric of humanity than the hatred of women, or misogyny.

Yet we see increasing misogynist murders, violence, hate, oppression, and intolerance growing around the world. It is our responsibility to consistently and unceasingly defy such hate and violence against women. We cannot leave such a world of misogyny as the legacy of our generation to our daughters, sisters, and women of the world.

If we continue to expect the least from others regarding hate and violence against women, that is precisely what we will get. It is time to stop expecting the least from others in America and around the world regarding misogyny, and start demanding the most in terms of consistent equality, freedom, and respect for women.

How do we change public attitudes on misogyny? We start with ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our cities, our nation, and then reach out towards the rest of the world. We start by expecting equality for women in the workplace, in our Constitution, in our government, and in society. We start by rejecting the idea that women are second-class citizens or second-class human beings in America or anywhere in the world. We consciously choose a global defiance against misogynist hate - no exceptions, no excuses, and no rationalizations. We recognize misogynist activities as precisely what they are - hate crimes.

We need to set a new standard of public rejection of misogyny as something that is always unacceptable, just as racism and any other form of institutionalized hate is always unacceptable. In the United States, our national priorities, funding, and programs must be geared to promote equality for women and to consistently defy misogyny.

In our foreign relations, we must show a zero tolerance for misogyny, especially institutionalized misogyny. Those nations whose leaders and governments tolerate or support hate and violence against women are rogue nations that are not, will not, and must not ever be viewed as “allies” of the United States of America. Terrorism against women is nothing less than a declaration of war against half of humanity itself.

The New York Times recently reported that the “global statistics on the abuse of girls are numbing. It appears that more girls and women are now missing from the planet, precisely because they are female, than men were killed on the battlefield in all the wars of the 20th century. The number of victims of this routine ‘gendercide’ far exceeds the number of people who were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century.”

U.S. taxpayer dollars and U.S. corporate investment must not reward nations with institutionalized hate against women. But it does today and that must change. While some may view such a change as “radical,” our generation must develop a culture that holds equality, freedom, and respect towards women as a basic standard of civilized human behavior. We cannot continue to look the other way as women are murdered, mutilated, raped, and oppressed around the world. We must develop a culture where such equality and liberty is a priority in who and what we are, not just as individuals, not just as a nation, but also in the way we relate politically and economically with the rest of the world.

Our tolerance of the oppression of girls and women in Communist China, in Saudi Arabia, and in too many nations around the world is a legacy that we must change. In our international relations, too often we have allowed continued support of those nations that practice institutionalized hate against women, with the rationalization that we have had to make the best of bad choices. But those bad choices set an example of how much misogyny we will tolerate, we will accept, and we will appease. It sends a very clear message that human rights are not our top priority, and may even be our last priority. Human rights are never our last priority; they are always are the first priority for humanity. The dark chapter in our history that has consciously ignored such oppression of the world’s women, while doing business and funding some of the world’s worst oppressors of women’s rights must come to an end, so that we can forward together to bring equality and liberty to women around the world.

Men and women together must recognize that our “standard of living” is only as great as our “standard of human rights.” It is our standard of human rights that defines whether we are or are not a civilized people.

We can’t buy back the human rights violations of women around the world. No material creature comforts, momentary pleasure, or economic prosperity will ever justify one moment of inequality, degradation, oppression, or violence against women. We need to come to the societal realization that we can’t put a price on hate and violence against women. We need to come to the realization that no productive foreign policy, no productive national security tactic, and no political objectives of free people are ever advanced by ignoring hate and violence against women.

Our Responsibility for Women’s Equality and Liberty

Let us not deny who and what we are collectively. Collectively, we are the ones that create the governments of the world. Collectively, we are ones that form the corporations of the world. Collectively, we are the races, religions, conscience, and nations of the world. This is not someone else’s responsibility. This is our responsibility for women’s equality and liberty. It is our personal responsibility to challenge those who would justify or rationalize hate, violence, and oppression against women.

But if we are not consistent in our defiance against misogyny, then we will simply tell those who hate women that we just don’t tolerate hate against women in SOME instances. That is the societal change we must affect in our generation. A zero tolerance policy against misogyny must challenge hate against women consistently and globally.

Without a culture of zero tolerance against misogyny where will our society end up? Reports from around the world give us a preview of the inhumanity that continues to grow on a daily basis against women. Misogynist hate seeks to dehumanize women either through acts of war or acts of oppression.

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