Best time to be a woman?
Why don’t I feel that is true?
I am repeatedly informed by every man I meet, that it is indeed true.
Health, safety, equal rights, education, on every aspect, things have never been better for women.
30th March 2022 — According to the UNFPA’s flagship State of World Population 2022 report, 50% of the pregnancies in the world are unplanned. Have we not been doing this since the beginning of humankind? How do we still not know how this works? Over 60 % of unintended pregnancies end in abortion and an estimated 45 % of all abortions are unsafe, accounting for five to 13 % of all maternal deaths recorded.
24th June 2022 — US Supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade, which has been effective since 1973, leaving it up to the states to decide for themselves if they will ‘allow’ women to get an abortion. Even what kind of a punishment should be given to women who get abortions and even to those who assist and abed such an act. The Supreme court decided that as the constitution is not specific enough on ‘abortions’, the states do not have to be united on this matter.
At the same time, they ruled to allow concealed carriage of arms outside the home. On this front to uphold the constitution, the states need to be united. This comes less than a month after 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
At this point guns kill more and have more rights than women in the USA!
November 2021 — A 12-year-old child was forced to take a baby to term after being repeatedly raped by her own father. She was not even aware she was pregnant and abortions beyond six weeks were not allowed due to the ‘heartbeat law’ implemented 1st September 2021. The law kicks in even before anyone can find out that they are pregnant. The six weeks start counting from the end date of the last menstruation cycle. That is how pregnancies are measured. This is even before a woman starts ovulating. It is at best one week before a woman can even get pregnant. The first week of the so-called pregnancy, the woman is not even pregnant.
The punishment is more often more severe for the victim than it is for the rapist.
I understand that the world is not fair, and I have to accept it. At this point however the above does not even make logical sense. It is not only irrational but also completely ludicrous.
We are repeatedly told that we are being too dramatic.
2016 US elections — Trump wins, I cried for days, I was told to relax as I was overreacting. ‘Stop painting such a doom and gloom scenario’ I was told. The world will not end. He was a mature, accomplished, self-made man who will change and rise to the occasion. The first speech he made that sounded ‘presidential’, praises poured in from around the world. The entire world cheered. How did that end up for the US and women in particular? Republicans secured a garish conservative majority in the Supreme Court. The world indeed did not end. Things even got better, mostly for old white men. The rest, the younger generations, women and children, the world looks very different for the next 50 years.
Bill Clinton had an affair, focus groups were still willing to vote for him. The same people were however not willing to vote for Hillary when she was running for senate because she stood by him and forgave him. How could she? She must be power hungry. She was hated and detested for being ambitious. Every single president, presidential candidate, senator, congressperson, governor, any politician that ever existed and their uncles have been ambitious. But that is ok and acceptable. However, it is not when Hillary is like that. A thousand mistakes, misdemeanors, crass behavior, even high crimes are overlooked when it comes to Trump. The smallest missteps are scrutinized when it comes to Hillary.
February 2017: Russian parliament decriminalizes domestic violence, at least to some extent when it was at that time estimated that domestic abuse killed a woman every 40 minutes, upholding the old Russian saying, ‘If he beats you, it means he loves you’. According to Russian government statistics from the Interior Ministry, 40% of all violent crimes are committed within the family. The figures correlate to 36,000 women being beaten by their partners every day and 26,000 children being assaulted by their parents every year.
1971 — West Pakistani military deployed ‘rape’ as an official weapon of war. Motivated by the ideology of “Islam in danger” the leaders of West Pakistan launched their military campaign by classifying all Bengali freedom fighters as Hindus through the release of a fatwa (religious decree) which required the Pakistani military to regard all Bengali “wealth and women” as spoils of war. These rapes caused thousands of unwanted pregnancies, resulting in the birth of war babies, abortions, infanticide, suicide and societal ostracization of the victims. These women were forbidden from performing abortions, to “purify” the Bengali race. They were doing them a favor. It was for their own good. Where was the international outrage and intervention?
2019 — Myanmar military deploys the same ‘weapon of war’ against an ethnic cleansing of Rohingya minorities. Rape has been a central component of the genocidal campaign waged by Myanmar’s military and security forces against the Rohingya, in which Rohingya Muslim women and girls have suffered unspeakable sexual violence at the hand of powerful men, many wearing military or police uniforms. Babies and children ripped and burned alive while their mothers were raped.
There was some talk in the UN however all this still goes unpunished!
January 2018 — An 8-year-old Muslim girl was abducted, brutally gang raped and murdered by six men and a juvenile, in a village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
July 2021 — A nine-year-old girl was gang-raped, murdered then forcibly cremated by four men, including a priest in Old Nangal village, Delhi.
Brutal violent rape cases continually occur in India. Gang rape of minors. Some action is taken when there is significant coverage and public outrage, especially when minors are the victims, however many more go without action and that is why year after year this continues.
July 2022 — A 10 year old rape victim in Ohio is asked to take the pregnancy to term and consider it an opportunity.
Tell me again how times have improved for women?
I spoke to one of my best friends the other day. An accomplished woman in her fifties. A Vice President at a prominent bank. We were having lunch and discussing these issues and she proudly asserted that she was not a ‘feminist’. Feminists to her are hysterical women that go around saying nonsense and blowing everything out of proportion. They give women like ‘us’ a bad image. Feminists have no credibility, and nobody takes them seriously.
23rd June 2022 — Summer solstice, also known as ‘Sankt Hans Aften’, is celebrated all over Denmark as it is every year. People get together, sing songs, eat and drink late into the evening as it is the longest day of the year. They make a large bonfire. These bonfires are made in large public places like parks, beaches even on floats on lakes. Some have more private ones in their summer houses or backyards with their friends and family. For extra fun, they make a doll out of old clothes or bed sheets and stuff it with straw or firecrackers to look like a woman, a witch. Then they put her on a pole in the middle of the bonfire and burn her. This is a tradition introduced in the 1920’s and the Danish people thought it would be fun to continue doing it. The objective is to ward off ‘evil’ as witches have special powers and enhanced magic on the shortest night of the year. Even the Danish royal family participates in this ritual.
The last woman to be accused of witchcraft and condemned to death by burning in Denmark was in 1641.
Why do they do it? It is part of the culture and tradition. It is the Danish way.
Women are under attack all over the world and have been throughout time. Ridiculous rituals are normalized in the name of tradition and culture. Feminism has become a curse word. In this world, built by men for men, their place is becoming smaller and smaller. Yet they are being gaslighted into believing that they are being too dramatic, blowing things out of proportion and exaggerating? Their credibility questioned and they are just dismissed?
Tell me please. When will enough be enough? When is the right time to react? What is a proportionate reaction? When should I show my outrage? Where is the line?
References:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1115062
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/us/uvalde-shooting-victims.html
https://khn.org/news/article/texas-abortion-law-rape-incest-survivors/
https://www.insider.com/texas-abortion-ban-would-block-teen-raped-by-grandfather-2021-5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_Bangladesh_Liberation_War
https://www.mei.edu/publications/mass-rape-rohingya-muslim-women-all-out-war-against-all-women
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathua_rape_case
https://www.thelocal.dk/20220623/why-does-denmark-celebrate-sankt-hans-aften/
https://cbswire.dk/midsummer-denmark-time/
https://www.copenhagendowntown.com/blog/celebrate-midsummer-with-our-sankt-hans-tradition
