Equality.

Monday 14th November 2016 2:00 am

I am a feminist. Why you may ask?

Because I'm a firm believer in "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men," the actual definition of a feminist
Not that women are superior to men

Because BOTH should be able to love who they want to love and live happily ever after, without being scared they'll be subject to violence and in headlines, shot up dead the next day

Because BOTH are discriminated against for their outer and inner appearance and deserve justice, not ashamed, confined in labeled boxes of societal norms

Because BOTH slave equally as hard and "dream it, work hard, and grind 'till we own it" at work yet still women are earning 80% of every man's 100%

Because BOTH should be able to wear what they want to wear
And not hear "hey gorgeous!," yelled at us by randos on the street, degraded.
I'm not a dog, I don't deserve to be whistled at. Catcalling is not a compliment, problematic.

Because BOTH need to be taught that RAPE is caused by RAPISTS
NOT because you were revealing a little too much, or
That "boys will be boys/girls will be girls"
Don't belittle us and ask what we were wearing. Focus on the problem at hand!

Because BOTH are sexualized
When women show off their bodies in CONFIDENCE, they get asked to cover up
When men show off their bodies in CONFIDENCE, they get asked to take more off

Both are equally as humiliating!
Magazines and social media can be quite contradicting and hypocritical, can't they?

Because NO means NO, not "persuade me," "drug me," "lead me on"
We don't want to be deflowered this way, watching our innocent petals drop to the stone cold floor

We're all human beings here
Why don't we start treating each other like it?

Equality

🌷(1)

A Sequence of Events ►

Comments

M.C. Newberry

Fri 18th Nov 2016 17:03

It might be of wider interest that the list of "equalities"
previously shown was borrowed from an article by a
very famous, widely travelled writer with considerable
experience of the world. LT may choose to see things in her own way...although it seems to me that "equality of access" rebuts any accusation of sexism.
To the author of this post, I say "carry on" contributing
to the need that we have to debate and discuss our
understanding of the human condition.
Life is never less than worth the effort!

Laura Taylor

Fri 18th Nov 2016 13:25

It's barely-concealed sexism MCN and no amount of word-dressing makes it otherwise.

<Deleted User> (6895)

Thu 17th Nov 2016 20:03

Re M.C.'s comments which we specifically support along with the aim of the poem and have no inflammatory intentions we would like with the greatest of respect to all concerned that the last two lines of this very very good poem need to be taken better note of.

P&S.

M.C. Newberry

Thu 17th Nov 2016 19:45

Dear Laura Taylor - I'm sorry if my efforts to enlarge on
the theme of "equality" upset your view of things.
With four sisters, I have every respect and affection for the problems folk face in life but it would be a
sad day when polite reasoning is received and
likened insultingly to "trolling", rather than an attempt to broaden the theme. Anything written on any subject
merits a considered response, whether on WOL, in a letter to a newspaper - or one's MP! With experience
in all three, I am well aware that however heated
or controversial the subject, anything less than even
handed and courteous comment is not only bad
manners, it is bound for the waste paper basket.

Laura Taylor

Thu 17th Nov 2016 14:05

And violet - great piece, nicely balanced.

Laura Taylor

Thu 17th Nov 2016 14:05

MCN - you've already made one ham-fisted and inappropriate comment. Your second is looking suspiciously like trolling. It would seem that this poem's central message is directed right at you. Put your shovel down.

M.C. Newberry

Wed 16th Nov 2016 12:32

Following my previous comment, here is a list of the
feasible equalities from a respected source.
1. Equality of civil rights.
2. Equality before the law.
3. Equality of the franchise (i.e. of a vote)
4. Equality of access (i.e. getting ahead on ability/talent)
5. Equality of sanction (i.e. punishment)

M.C. Newberry

Mon 14th Nov 2016 16:59

I recall there were only five literally feasible "equalities"
in the human condition and saw them listed somewhere.
Much is made of feminism these days. But I don't recall
my mother (7 children in far harder times than these)
ever mentioning the word. Perhaps because she knew
herself that whilst men and women share the human
condition they are also different, and the difference is
ignored when there are claims about "equality" from women. The birth and safeguarding/guidance of the young was sacrosanct in ways I recall, whereas now it
is not.
I was brought up to raise a hat (if worn) when meeting a
woman; to pass on the road side of the pavement
(presumably from the days when filth could be flung up
by passing vehicles); to open a door and stand aside to
allow a woman through first; and to stand up and offer
a woman my seat. WW2 brought women workplace
opportunities to do things that men had been doing,
and that's fine and dandy, many of them showing they
could do as well if not better than their masculine
counterparts. But along the way, something has also
been lost and that's a pity. Work - with its many and
varied demands - is now the "battleground" with talk
of glass ceilings when promotion/advancement is not
achieved as hoped (or perhaps expected?). If it is
mentioned that we have a Queen as Head of State, or a
second female prime minister to lead the country, the
response seems to be grudging, even to insisting there
should be positive discrimination elsewhere.
It seems nothing will ever really satisfy the demands
of those in pursuit of their personal expectations of
what they see as their "entitlement" to "have it all",
disdainfully discarding the ways of Nature and how She
ordains the priorities of life across the generations.

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