2 posts tagged “women's rights”

My beloved and greatly missed alma mater, the University of Missouri-Columbia, has a rapidly growing and incredibly dynamic Women's and Gender Studies department; some of the most fantastic students I had the pleasure to meet while I was in Columbia were involved with the department, either in classes, or through student organizations.

Anyway--I'm visiting Feministing, my favorite Feminism News, Politics, and Fodder resource this evening (instead of studying the nasty nasty intestines) and I see this!!!!     Stop Traffic Now Fashion Show

I AM SOOOOO ANGRY RIGHT NOW.  My sex apparently automatically strips me of several freedoms as a human being.  When I introduce myself as a feminist, I am often met by incredulity and the statement that the Women's Liberation Movement is over, and feminism is no longer warrented by our society.  I used to struggle to point out several cases that support my beliefs, but I will never struggle again.  Not after today.

Because I am a woman, I am apparently not entitled to walk from the bus stop to my home without harassment.  I am subject to the disgusting nature of my male peers--cat calls, name-calling, and mockery.  I cannot feel safe walking by myself, in the middle of the fucking day, in the small and friendly city of my residence.

It was gorgeous outside today; in my effort to increase my fitness level and enjoy the spring weather, I decided to make the 10 minute walk to the campus shuttle this morning.  I was walking home from the Trowbridge bus stop after class about 10 minutes ago, and as I passed a truck stopped in the left-turn lane, the three douchebags apparently "caught my scent."
Douche:  HAAAAAAAAAY, BAAAAAAAAABAY!! Do you need a ride?  Or do you want to get in the truck?
Me:  "Fuck you, moron." *flips off retards*
Douche:  "Yeahhh!!! Thumbs up, bitch!  I'll give you a thumbs up too!"
Then, as I reached the intersection, he was turning left onto Stadium, and screamed something unintelligible--but unmistakably disgusting--out the window at me again.  This was, of course, accompanied by a cat call and laughter from the two passengers in the truck.

I felt my face flush and my ears burn.  Tears began to well.  I called my mother to explain what had just happened, and to vent my initial bolus of anger.  By the time I got home, I was silently crying.  For myself, for my fellow women, and for the little girls that will likely experience this type of harassment.  I don't understand what makes such a large group of men feel entitled to treat women as objects suited to pleasure them, or as objects with absolute value assigned based on their attractiveness or appearance.  I don't understand why I, walking along a street, not bothering anyone, not speaking to anyone, am subject to such hateful verbal attack.

Sadly enough, that's not the first time something like this has happened to me.  I had a very similar experience early last semester, under the same circumstances.  It was brief--a one-time, head-out-the window shout--but it still happened.

The advice I've recieved today:  "That's just the way the world is right now..."  "Just ignore it..."  Seriously?  That's what you have to say?  How is that going to solve the problem that is so obvious!?

Even more sad is how LUCKY I am after this whole thing.  I guess I'm lucky, in the fact that I didn't end up like the New York woman, who was run over by her aggressor after a similar reaction to his harassment.  I'm also lucky that he didn't jump out of his truck and physically attack me, or pull me into his truck.  It's hard to feel lucky, though.  I shouldn't *have* to feel lucky.  Although, this is the same philosophy I have heard women trapped in abusive or unhappy marriages.  The alcoholic's wife says, "Well, at least he doesn't beat me."  The abuser's wife says, "At least he didn't kill me" or "At least the bruises aren't on my face" or "At least he doesn't beat our kids."

Why does feminism still exist?  Why are we still ever-vigilant for women's rights and the dichotomy between the social conditions that exist in our legal system and how women are treated in larger society?  Why do women need to continue to stand up for themselves and spread the word about inequality and injustice we experience on a regular basis?  Because no one else, especially the men who govern so much of our lives, is going to do it for us.
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Even looking at the horrific tragedy at Virginia Tech, we can see the results propagated by the sense of male ownership of the female population, and how strongly some males feel about this particular idea.  The person who snuffed 33 lives in his selfish acts on campus was reportedly "looking for his ex-girlfriend"... with two guns and a vest full of ammunition.  Why would a man look for an ex-girlfriend with one gun, let alone two?!  Because he has a sense of ownership, which has been broken, and is looking to reverse or seek revenge for that.  The woman is to fear the man because of his power over her, and his willingness to exercise it on her, at the expense of her life.  Every day, women are made to feel this particular horror, whether on US soil, or in developing nations across the globe.  This is wrong--as wrong as anything I've ever known.