Letters to the Editor
desi_grrl
Published Letters: 33
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why dont they leave?
[Read the article: Why women stay with abusers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]well carol brought up india so i had to say something. the problem with countries like india (or pakistan, or nepal or iran or wherever) is that there is no world outside the marital "home". its changing these days, i will agree, yet, its still not there as far as recourse to law or basic respect of the female gender go. the woman who leaves ends up being the one at fault. she finds it hard to be employed many times because her brothers were probably given preference over education, or since she wasnt worth spending money on for education since she would not bring anything to the birth home anyway. not in all cases is she uneducated, though. in many cases, she has been made to lead an extremely protected and sheltered life and hasn't exactly had the opportunity to learn life skills until she's dropped off at the marital "home". and then its too late. if she leaves to get away from the abuse, she is not of much value for remarriage (marriage is what defines female position in the social structure) since she is most probably not a virgin anymore (for some reason, virginity holds value). she is made to feel like dirty and her self-esteem is crushed from various sources around her. Popular media (film/tv) have mirrored this reality for a long time now, with only a few films/tv series providing alternative choices for their women characters. this is another factor that helps with reinforing accepted social beliefs. laws exist, but legislation and enforcement are weak and corrupt. throw children into the mix, and the woman being the default caregiver, she can pretty much forget about reconstructing her own life. did i mention dowry? no? another long story to factor in.
women can't really just up and leave in many social systems without having to face years of crushing humiliation, not to mention the threat of having various interesting forms of violence at them such as having acid thrown at her face in the name of family honor.
its not all dark. things are changing from where i (a middle-class, highly educated, progressive woman) see. education is helping with opportunity for economic independence. but with deeply (genetically?) entrenched value systems that do not afford much value to the female, its going to take a while. Oh, and i was genuinely surprised to see how similar some ways of life are in america, with all its rhetoric about freedom and equal opportunity....when it comes to the treatment of females.
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hmm...
[Read the article: Stop terrorism: Talk to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]there are some actions that need to be taken in absolute terms. such as getting women involved (artificially, if that's what it takes) in governance and politics, no questions asked, especially in retrograde social systems. who knows, maybe there might be atleast a miniscule increase in representation of women's voices in a system that negates one half of itself. perhaps having those women in power might propel more men into education and gainful employment...it is a long-known fact in the third world where some of us come from, that women are the main drivers for the overall level of a family's educational advancement. so if women are advocated to be appointed to positions of power, that's not a bad thing, it might actually some much-needed role models for women in these societies, if nothing else.
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to anonymous...
[Read the article: Stop terrorism: Talk to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]this is exactly the kind of threadjacking people indulge in all the time to deflect resources from the issue at hand.
your nitpicking is childish, so i will consider it an attempt at humor, however weak. so, seriously, what are *you* doing to alleviate sexism in the world...male to female and vice versa?
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dear anonymous #2
[Read the article: Stop terrorism: Talk to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]what are your ideas for
1. working to counter terrorism.
2. working to integrate women into political decision-making in societies where they are not an active part of the political and economical mainstream.
please try to give us some concrete steps here.
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anonymous #2
[Read the article: Stop terrorism: Talk to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Seeing as how women are responsible for 30-40% of domestic violence, and how women leaders throughout the ages have been responsible for wars and other atrocities, and noting how many people do seem to feel that a matriarchy would in some indescribable manner be a more peaceful and better world, and how all of that is pure conjecture stemming from a childhood nursery rhyme (sugar and spice and everything nice), I think Price's pretense and pretension is worth deflating and valuable to deflate.
please provide stats for the %age ration of women to men leaders who have been responsible for wars and other atrocities. actually, first provide the stats for the %age of women leaders globally throughout the ages. also provide the %age of pink elephants to white ones.
thanks for your compliment about my handle, sweets. mmm, could you please provide a source for your "30-40%" stats above. and if you can't i'll understand. what's more of interest to me is your explanation for how domestic violence stats in the States are relevant to the living conditions of women in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
thanks and hope you had a great 4th of July.
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?
[Read the article: Stop terrorism: Talk to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]why are you a misogynist, anonymous #2?
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speaking of whacko...
[Read the article: Groping toward gender equality]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think it's a pretty slick trick of yours to give Japanese subway gropers a pass while decrying how American boys have breast fetishes.
so, anonymous, you agree then, that japanese subway gropers are a problem?