So there has been talk all over Facebook about the controversial statement of this young woman:
Once I clicked the link, and saw this photo, I was like YES! Yes, I may not be a feminist per say, but I do agree that there are certain rights that women should have. It's no longer a man's world, but a world that is shared by both men and women, who are EQUAL (of course there's always gonna be one person who may be "better" than another, male or female, but that's not the point!).
As I scrolled down the page, I started to read some of the comments, some to which I agree very much.
This one by user
helavagal:
I think you all are not getting the point. We need feminism because unfortunately the men of this country have taken upon themselves to "rule" over women - (see Muslim texts for similarities please). I am personally tired of having to tell my girls (just as I was told when I was a child) that they must not wear a certain thing or be out past a certain time because the tyrants of this country cannot keep themselves zipped up when they see a little skin. Did you know that the US is in the top 5 countries of the world in women being raped? This is empowerment of the men to control women - so is killing Planned Parenthood, taking away our birth control and then leaving us alone to take care of unplanned children. Men do not suffer with these things - women do. I don't have to tell my son "be careful and don't get pregnant" but I do educate my son on how to treat women. We are not meat for men to have their way and then throw us away - we are people. I am so sick of all of the rights that are being taken away from women and not from men. I truly think that women should close their legs and we start our own colonies until men figure out that we are not possessions and start treating us as equals - whether its through health care, equal pay, or whatever. I also think that we are way to uptight about a lot of things here in this country. Breast feeding is not accepted but a half naked woman selling items on TV is fine. I truly think we as a nation need to start rethinking our morals and ask TRUTHFULLY what would Jesus do. Nothing like this I can tell you that.
A responder,
Tim, to helavagal's post:
Well, youre kind of implying that all men rape women, I agree, america is a really screwed up country. But it seems like youre trying to make men sound like they have it easy. Im jsut saying. If a girl hits a guy and the police gets called. The guy goes to jail. If theres a custody battle. The girl gets the kids and child support. If a girl is drunk, walking the streets causing trouble. she gets a ride home. If a guy was on the streets hed be locked up with no questions asked
This dickhead. In some cases, if not most, this may be true (about the custody battle, domestic violence/assault), however from what I've seen, a guy will not be locked up, no questions asked, if he was on the street drunk. I believe that it's only if a person is out of control, breaking some law, causing a public disturbance while drunk will the police then get involved. As for a woman being the drunk person, the same goes, and should she get a ride home, it is always because of that fear that something may happen to her, whether it be rape, getting picked up by the wrong person who may even kill her. But yes, not all men rape women.
And just under Tim's response, a more intelligent man named
Austin Marriner responded:
While not all men rape women, it's a fact that the vast, vast majority of all perpetrated rapes are committed by men (18% of all women in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice, opposed to 3.3% for men). The simple base facts of the matter is that it's not easy being alive. Male or female, white, black, brown, yellow or purple, straight or gay. It's rough out there. Life isn't fair... it never has been. Yet, that does not mean in any way that we should ever stop striving to perfect this imperfect world in which we live. It is only when all have abandoned hope in a better tomorrow that we, as a race, are doomed.
Claiming that it's rough to be a man in this kind of discussion is akin to saying that because it's hard to play chess, it must be hard to play baseball because they're both games. While they both may be hard, they are not mutually inclusive in the least and any attempt to draw that parallel is just as wrong as any attempt to draw a parallel between being a man and a woman in today's society. Yes, we are both human, just as chess and baseball are both games, but for all our attempts to even the score on the sexes, we are still dreadfully short of any form of equality.
To use your own example, if I'm walking down the street drunk, then I have to worry about being robbed... beaten up possibly, having to cancel my credit cards, go the the DMV and get a new license, so on and so forth. Yes, that's a hassle... yes, it would suck. However, now picture yourself as a woman. Stack all that suckiness on top of being forced to engage in sexual activities. Beaten... forcefully stripped... they're not only taking your easily replaced physical belongings and giving you a bump on the head. They're taking your humanity. Your dignity. Your self-esteem. They're making you less than human. Think about that for a minute and then tell me that it's oh so hard to be a male in our society.
I almost go back to episodes of SVU or other shows were they try to explain that it's not a woman's fault that she gets raped or some other crime is committed against her. Maybe, yes her clothing or behavior may incite it, but it's never her fault. But this issue goes beyond rape; it's about the rights of women. I may not be 100% behind some of the ideas of Planned Parenthood, Pro-Life/Choice, etc, but these are the rights and decisions that women in this country ought to have. And changing these programs or even eliminating, seems to send the U.S. back into the same level of what goes on in other countries where women don't have very many rights.
Here is another comment from
Stargrunt:
I think the whole femanazi thing is well intended, but its far more fundamental then you describe it. We teach people "don't get raped" because we, as a society, recognize (and in doing so fail to discourage properly) the rape itself.
But take it farther then that, take it past a man raping a woman (or a man raping another man, or even a woman raping a man, both of which are considered far too lightly by feminists I feel) and look at our lives in general. Replace "rape" with general bad behavior and bad ethics. We teach our children, and ourselves, to avoid identity theft, avoid getting screwed over, avoid bad people.
This is not a failing of MEN or MEN IN CHARGE. this is a failing of society. If you can't realize this then you have your own personal problems with men, and there's no room for that in a logical or ethical discussion.
So many other foolish and intelligent comments on MoveOn.org, to read them click
here.
But what's your take on this image, or even the debate about rape?
