wives, mothers, underpaid or unpaid workers, and their rights limited. After all, the idea of inferiority is equal to the idea of exploitation.
These types of injustice do not only apply to women but across the race board, and the Black Lives Matter movement is a civil rights movement that aims to raise awareness on racism and violence toward the African American population. Xenophobia is alive and well! So is segregation. Our society categorizes us according race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, social class, and so on—it has never been so compartmentalized! You, readers, have been very vocal about these subjects.
Clearly, gender roles defining our society can become a burden as they are also restrictive, unfair, dishonest, and sometimes foster injustice. Why can a young college man get away with rape and claim to be damaged for life by three months of jail when the female victim is given no, or very little consideration for the emotional, moral and social scars she will have to bear for the rest of her life? Why does a clergyman accuse a 7-year-old girl of being promiscuous for forcing her to have sex with him? This comes back to the perception of a woman as a sexual objet and an inferior being! Would Hilary Clinton have been less criticized over the emails issue if she was a man? We judge mistakes made by women more harshly and remember them longer. Our society discredits women and gives the benefit of the doubt to men. These are reminders of what women have to deal with on daily basis.
Women and activists of all genders continue to fight for their
rights, their recognition and equality—and this applies to issues as simple and complicated as public bathrooms, as well as minorities, and communities such as LGTBQ+.
Let’s not forget that we have become complacent, and taken our freedom and women’s rights for granted. There is still a lot of work left to do. Some conservatives are trying to return to archaic times in hopes of owning, once again, women’s bodies, while ruling over their health and reproductive rights.
Hopefully, a new generation is walking in the footsteps of the great feminists of the past, picking up the pieces where my
generation dropped the ball because, if we remain silent, progress can halt, and change can go backward.
In a time of political and civil turmoil, women, be kind to each other. Remember that a little act of kindness goes a long way. Stay strong, safe and healthy!!!
Heart Mother Nursing an Infant by Nick McBee.
Sources: http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/awrm/intro.htm, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sand, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Tristan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft
75 | Ceres Magazine | Fall 2016
by Al Mohymont