Our society is built on the exaltation of men. They are perceived as the builders of society. But, that is changing drastically, women are no longer afraid to reclaim our power and our place in society. We are more ambitious, educated, and fortified than any other time in history.
With all of this progress, the wage gap is still a world wide issue. 2.7 billion women are restricted from the same jobs as men. Also, violence against women is on the rise. 1 in 3 women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lives. Some national studies show that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. Evidence shows that women who have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence report higher rates of depression, having an abortion and acquiring HIV, compared to women who have not.
#MeToo brings much needed attention to the gravity of how common women experience sexual harassment. Although #MeToo has been appropriated by white women from Hollywood, the movement was founded by Tarana Burke as a movement under her nonprofit organization: Just Be Inc. as a way for victims of sexual harassment and assault to build a community and to find resources for help. It took 10 years for the hashtag to explode on social media. The movement is a response to the male audacity to sexually harass women's bodies.
In a patriarchal society, a woman's body is seen to have three female functions an oven for babies, an object for sex, and a ball of emotion. It is as if thought and the ability to contribute to society is something that we are incapable of. However, women are the common thread behind the greatest movements in society. The Civil Rights Movement gained the most ground when Rosa Parks sat. Katarba Gandhi is credited by her husband, Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring the method of passive disobedience. Winnie Mandela (left) kept the legacy of Nelson Mandela alive during his incarnation which was detrimental to his eventual election to become South Africa's first president. Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth did the foot work of the abolition movement.
I could go on and on with examples of women contributing to society way more than the three female functions. I wonder what would have been had not Christianity been molded into a religion that is void of women in its texts. Extensively, if women were not present with constant barriers to education and equal employment oppurtunities.
What if there was no patriarchy? How would our society flourish? Would we be confused with the lack of gender -specified roles to guide us or would we do what makes sense for our individual existences?
Every human being is female in the wound, first. There is no man on this planet that did not descend biologically from being a female. Men are recessive to women. It has been nothing but tom-foolery. For a simplified explanation of this fact, see this excellent excerpt from Tiffany Haddish's interview on the Breakfast Club.
My purpose in stating this fact does not mean that I want women to become the ruling gender, it means that we are equal in our creation and should be equal in our existence.
