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Equal Opportunity Requires A Paradigm Shift
As part of the observance of International Women's Day this year, the United Nations, has chosen "Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all." as its theme. Sadly, in large measure achieving these ideals is still very much a work in progress.
Mar 08, 2010
As part of the observance of International Women's Day this year, the United Nations, has chosen "Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all." as its theme. Sadly, in large measure achieving these ideals is still very much a work in progress.
While to be sure, there has been much progress in the last few
decades, women still hold only a small fraction of elected offices.
Women earn pennies on the dollar earned by their male counterparts
while juggling the overwhelming burden of caring work for no pay at all.
In parts of the world, women are raped and murdered when they go to
fetch water and firewood for their families. Schools for girls are
fire-bombed and acid is thrown in the faces of girls who have the
temerity to want an education.
When women are raped, they are accused of being adulterers and are
stoned to death or in other ways killed to salvage their family's
honor. In many countries, young girls are still forced to undergo
Female Genital Mutilation.
Abortion is still illegal, unsafe and/or inaccessible for many women
and hundreds of thousands of women die unnecessarily from childbirth
related reasons. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to
be attacked by fellow soldiers than by any enemy and women,
particularly in Southeast Asia, are all too often victimized by sex
traffickers and forced into prostitution near military bases or are
trafficked into domestic slavery.
There is a word for this and it is misogyny. Unfortunately, we live
in a world where things mostly operate on the notion that power comes
from winning battles and controlling resources and people. Implicitly
in such a system, you can not allow those you want to control to become
equal. And in this world, there is a long history of men asserting
control over women.
The only way this changes is to redefine empowerment. Imagine a
world in which we lay claim to power that comes from the worthiness of
how we conduct our own lives and how we connect with the world around
us, rather than insisting that we must control things. For there to be
equality of rights and opportunity, that is the paradigm change we will
need to make. And in doing so, we can begin to become fully empowered
and leave the damage of misogyny behind us.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Lucinda Marshall
Lucinda Marshall is and artist, activist and writer. She is the author of Reclaiming Medusa.
As part of the observance of International Women's Day this year, the United Nations, has chosen "Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all." as its theme. Sadly, in large measure achieving these ideals is still very much a work in progress.
While to be sure, there has been much progress in the last few
decades, women still hold only a small fraction of elected offices.
Women earn pennies on the dollar earned by their male counterparts
while juggling the overwhelming burden of caring work for no pay at all.
In parts of the world, women are raped and murdered when they go to
fetch water and firewood for their families. Schools for girls are
fire-bombed and acid is thrown in the faces of girls who have the
temerity to want an education.
When women are raped, they are accused of being adulterers and are
stoned to death or in other ways killed to salvage their family's
honor. In many countries, young girls are still forced to undergo
Female Genital Mutilation.
Abortion is still illegal, unsafe and/or inaccessible for many women
and hundreds of thousands of women die unnecessarily from childbirth
related reasons. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to
be attacked by fellow soldiers than by any enemy and women,
particularly in Southeast Asia, are all too often victimized by sex
traffickers and forced into prostitution near military bases or are
trafficked into domestic slavery.
There is a word for this and it is misogyny. Unfortunately, we live
in a world where things mostly operate on the notion that power comes
from winning battles and controlling resources and people. Implicitly
in such a system, you can not allow those you want to control to become
equal. And in this world, there is a long history of men asserting
control over women.
The only way this changes is to redefine empowerment. Imagine a
world in which we lay claim to power that comes from the worthiness of
how we conduct our own lives and how we connect with the world around
us, rather than insisting that we must control things. For there to be
equality of rights and opportunity, that is the paradigm change we will
need to make. And in doing so, we can begin to become fully empowered
and leave the damage of misogyny behind us.
Lucinda Marshall
Lucinda Marshall is and artist, activist and writer. She is the author of Reclaiming Medusa.
As part of the observance of International Women's Day this year, the United Nations, has chosen "Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all." as its theme. Sadly, in large measure achieving these ideals is still very much a work in progress.
While to be sure, there has been much progress in the last few
decades, women still hold only a small fraction of elected offices.
Women earn pennies on the dollar earned by their male counterparts
while juggling the overwhelming burden of caring work for no pay at all.
In parts of the world, women are raped and murdered when they go to
fetch water and firewood for their families. Schools for girls are
fire-bombed and acid is thrown in the faces of girls who have the
temerity to want an education.
When women are raped, they are accused of being adulterers and are
stoned to death or in other ways killed to salvage their family's
honor. In many countries, young girls are still forced to undergo
Female Genital Mutilation.
Abortion is still illegal, unsafe and/or inaccessible for many women
and hundreds of thousands of women die unnecessarily from childbirth
related reasons. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to
be attacked by fellow soldiers than by any enemy and women,
particularly in Southeast Asia, are all too often victimized by sex
traffickers and forced into prostitution near military bases or are
trafficked into domestic slavery.
There is a word for this and it is misogyny. Unfortunately, we live
in a world where things mostly operate on the notion that power comes
from winning battles and controlling resources and people. Implicitly
in such a system, you can not allow those you want to control to become
equal. And in this world, there is a long history of men asserting
control over women.
The only way this changes is to redefine empowerment. Imagine a
world in which we lay claim to power that comes from the worthiness of
how we conduct our own lives and how we connect with the world around
us, rather than insisting that we must control things. For there to be
equality of rights and opportunity, that is the paradigm change we will
need to make. And in doing so, we can begin to become fully empowered
and leave the damage of misogyny behind us.
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