In acknowledgement of International Women’s Day, here’s a very fitting and classic song by Peter Gabriel. Peter wrote this song in 1989 as a tribute to the women’s movement in Africa, where women had few, if any, rights. But if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll see that this song can apply to all women around the world.
After all of the nasty hatefulness and self-righteousness I witnessed from a good number of backwards-thinking women when the Women’s March took place, I can’t help but wonder how many repressed housewives back in my little hometown had something spiteful to say about this day. I can guarantee that at least one close-minded, super religious woman who got married at age 20 and has no career, no education beyond high school, and half a dozen kids took the time to go on Facebook and gripe about how having an International Women’s Day is silly and unnecessary and that women are just a bunch of whiny crybabies who already have more rights than we need, blah blah blah. Of course, I already explained the reasons for the march before, so I’m not going to delve into it again right now.
I just find it very sad that so many women have been brainwashed into thinking so little of themselves that they think having the same rights as men have is somehow a bad thing. I’ve had discussions with many of these women about this subject, and they simply do not want equality. They WANT to be subordinate to men and be considered less than men. They think that being afforded the same rights, freedoms, and value as men is unnatural, immoral, and wrong. It comes from a lifetime of religious and cultural brainwashing, a lack of education, and a lack of awareness and experiences beyond the confines of their small town environment. These are the kind of women who sneer at me and call me “immoral” and “evil” for not having children, for being comfortable in my own skin and comfortable expressing my female sexuality, for being an Atheist, and for identifying as pro-choice. And interestingly, some of them spit venom at me for daring to post some photos of my bare BACK at a topless beach on my own Facebook page, yet for some reason they feel no moral outrage at all about our new First Lady’s full frontal nude photos that are all over the internet for everyone to see. Which just proves that their “morality” and “values” are complete bullshit and are totally subjective based on WHO is doing what.
And please don’t think that I’m implying that there is anything wrong with being a housewife or a mother to a gaggle of kids. After all, feminism is all about choice and having the freedom to choose what kind of life you want to live. But these particular type of women seem to think that their way of life and their views are the ONLY valid and right way for women to live and think, and they get real huffy when confronted with other women who think differently and live different lives than they do….which leads me to believe that they must have some secret inner doubts or dissatisfaction with their strict adherence to gender roles. Otherwise they wouldn’t bristle so much when confronted with the knowledge that there are other women in existence who do not wish to be morning more than uneducated housewives and give birth to baby after baby after baby.
There really isn’t much that can be done to enlighten these women and change their way of thinking unless something catastrophic happens to them in their own lives that causes a light bulb to go off in their heads that finally allows them to see why having rights as a woman is a good thing. If you want to live your life as a second class citizen, then that’s your own right and choice to do so. But don’t cop an attitude and get nasty with other women who actually want to be treated like equal human beings. If things like the Women’s March and International Women’s Day offend your delicate, close-minded, antiquated sensibilities, then here’s a novel idea: Simply don’t even bother to acknowledge or comment on such events.
Mermaid Tales 