International Women’s Day!!! There’s still a lot that needs doing!

Posted on by Opher

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Until such time as gender, ethnicity and creed are of no more significance than the colour of a person’s eyes there is a war.

Until women hold fifty percent of the positions of power in society (in politics, boardrooms and institutions) there is a battle to be fought.

Until the obstacles are removed that prevent women from pursuing careers to achieve the highest positions there are human rights to be battled over. It is surely not inconceivable for society to create a system where child-care is a right and not an expense; where women do not have to sacrifice their careers in order to raise their families.

Until women around the world are given equal status with men there needs to be a revolution.

It is not acceptable in the 21st century for women to be:

  • second class citizens
  • given trivial mundane tasks and work
  • kept in the home
  • prevented from voting or standing for office
  • denied an education
  • genitally mutilated
  • subservient to men
  • paid at a different level
  • prevented from driving
  • oppressed
  • beaten and raped
  • not given a voice
  • forced to subscribe to a strict dress code
  • given different rules to live by
  • subjected to different standards in the workplace or society
  • given different standards of justice
  • threatened, abused and humiliated
  • attacked
  • segregated
  • subjected to sexist humour or put-downs
  • excluded from societies, functions or clubs
  • prevented from fully participating in all areas of society

Women need to be empowered and given full rights. They need equality.

So ladies – it is time to throw away your Barbie dolls, get your daughters out of their fairy-princess costumes and thinking about how they become company directors, prime ministers and scientists.

It’s time to fight for equality and make the world a better place.

Feed the positive zeitgeist – Power to women!!!

A fight for equality is a fight for everyone!

Encourage our young girls to be rocket scientists not damned stupid princesses!!

Posted on by Opher

I sometimes wonder what on earth has become of women’s liberation. Was it all about having the freedom to drink and have sex as freely as the lads? Or was there a deeper sense of equality?

Back in the 1970s they were rightly picketing the ‘Miss World’ contest for treating women as meat. Now they are supporting ‘Victoria’s Secrets’ lingerie catwalk.

Doesn’t this seem strange to you?

I am a man – I am a feminist!

Posted on by Opher

I see no reason why men cannot be feminists. I am not a woman. I am not black. I am not religious. I am not disabled.  But I do possess empathy.

What I stand for is tolerance, freedom and equality. That is simple enough.

That makes me a feminist. I believe that women should be treated equally. That is fair and just. That means equal pay for equal jobs. It means equal employability. It means changing some of the rules to ensure equal participation. It means women in positions of power.

I do not see this as contentious. Women are just as able and intelligent. What has prevented equality has been the structure of society. Women need equality in education and the work-place. In order to achieve that there has to be some changes. The foremost of these appears to me to be child-care. It is about time that governments addressed this area.

In order for women to have an equal opportunity to rise to top level jobs and positions of power there has to be good affordable child-care. As soon as a couple have a family one of them has to take responsibility and time off. This usually falls on the female to the detriment of their career. When the family has grown up it is too late. The damage has been done.

This is a cause worth fighting for.