Women's Empowherment- A woman's place is in the revolution

For those that are unaware, women in Mexico and Pakistan have been rising up against discrimination and abuse towards women. They have been fighting hard for their freedom and the backlash from governments have been disgusting. Originally I wasn't going to blog on this subject since it is such a sensitive topic, but today I started to see people having the nerve to MOCK these movements and now I am fuming and ready to speak up in behalf of my fellow women.

First of all let me start off by saying that anyone who has the nerve to mock the abuse and suppression of women, regardless of gender, is a disgusting pig and does not have the empathy to deserve the title of being human. The parents of such monsters failed miserably in raising their children and should be ashamed of themselves for letting such disgusting creatures out into the world. But enough with the rant, lets talk about the issues these women are fighting against and the importance of each and every one. But I would still like to remind everyone that we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the women who gave birth to us and took care of us.

1. The right to our bodies
This is in reference to the #MeToo Movement which has led to the #AuratMarch in Pakistan. This also refers to the policies being passed in certain states against abortion. For some reason it's ok to tell a woman what to do with their bodies and control it when a basic human right is the right to yourself. They are not willing to accept laws for the male body but they seem to think they have every right to a female's body. Abortion is never an easy choice for anyone. To believe that any woman would give up her child without pain or hurt is unfair. There are usually either medical issues, economical issues, how the child was conceived, or environmental issues that lead to these decisions. The second part of this issue has to do with sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, etc. To have people honestly believe that they can violate our personal space or that they have rights to our bodies as though we are objects or toys rather than humans is just disgusting. This plays a huge role on the concept of consent. There is also the issue of being threatened into situations we're not comfortable with or being harassed, or stalked till they get what they want.This battle is to have the world accept that our body is our own and no one has the right to our bodies except us.
2. The right to equal education
While most countries do have equal education for men and women, some countries/ cultures still favor education for men over women. It is important to understand that women NEED education to be able to make sound decisions and to recognize situations where they are being abused, taken advantage of, or being conditioned in any way. For the well being of women, their education is highly required. It is also important to note that women that choose to stay home and take care of their family still need to be well educated in order to help the children in the home learn and grow as well as support the bread earner of the home.(I choose not to specify gender for the spouse in respect to same sex couples and families). Now I want to point out in most countries where the education for women is restricted, it is for the soul purpose to control those women and to prevent them from getting out of abusive and controlling situations and to prevent them from understanding/ finding out that what is being done to them is wrong. This is also to prevent young girls to fight being married off to older men while still being minors. While I don't think there is anything wrong with being a house wife (my mom was a house wife and till this day I have yet to meet someone as strong and as smart as her), I do believe it should be by choice and not by necessity. Women should have the tools to be able to have a career of their choice if they so choose regardless of what they decide to do later on. 
3. The right to equal pay

Now I know this one is going to get a lot of backlash due to the whole "They do get equal pay, there is no pay gap, they just don't work as hard" propaganda that gets thrown about, unfortunately by other women as well, but please let me explain. When we say "equal pay" let us understand that what we mean is "equitable pay". First off, there are many sourced research articles that will give examples of how women with the same job positions, job descriptions, job titles, education, experience. etc. are being paid less then their male counterparts. You will also find plenty of sourced articles on how "male-dominant" careers tend to have higher wages then "women-dominant" careers. For example, teaching is considered a "women-dominant" career as mainly females take teaching positions and so the general pay for education (in the US at least- some countries value education more) is lower then jobs that require a lot less education. Meanwhile, engineering or QA is considered a "male- dominant" career and has much higher starting wages. 

Now as for promotions and other areas of discrepancies that are blamed on women, I would like to share a little story. A few years ago I had gone in for an interview with a company called "Bottle Rocket" for a position in QA. I was 20 years old and had been the top of my class in training for this industry. I had been extremely excited for the interview for this company as I felt their environment would match with my values and personality perfectly. 

I walked in for the interview and was pleased to see that my manager would be a female.....until she started talking about my potential for getting the job. Aside from her, there were two males in the room that were to be my co-workers if I were to be hired. Throughout the interview I was being told that I would be a good fit for the company and I was well qualified. However, towards the end she said she wasn't sure if she wanted to hire me because I was a female. She said that her entire team consisted of males and that she didn't want to work with "emotional, sensitive.cry-babies" in the job. Now I was caught off guard with this comment and I wish I had someone stand up for me back then and take a stand against these people for such an obvious case of gender discrimination but I simply left there completely disheartened that I wouldn't get to work at a place I liked simply because I wasn't born with the right body parts. However, I did in fact get the job (probably because one of the men in the room realized the legal issues she had created and insisted it was necessary). I, being young and dumb, took the job in excitement that she changed her mind. 

First day of work she didn't show up and simply sent me an email saying that she would not be able to train me during the first week as initially expected of her and that I had to figure out the systems and computer on my own. Now it took me maybe 5 mins to figure out how to use the computer and sent her a message asking what I needed to do next. She said I needed to spend the ENTIRE WEEK learning how to use a computer. Now I am a college graduate at this time and I am perfectly familiar with how to use computer systems and it isn't rocket science for me. But I didn't realize that she was simply setting me up for failure. She calls me in a week later saying that I am not getting enough help from others to get trained and that I needed to show more initiative. AGAIN, I still haven't been told what I am supposed to be doing or what my job is but I am supposed to be asking for help. But being a good little listener, I started asking my coworkers to train me on different systems and concepts. I would stay late from work learning these systems so that I can work harder and do better. Now it is important to understand the only 2 projects I was put on were ones that were either already being done by someone else and one that hadn't even started yet and wasn't in a phase to start testing yet.

Monday, I came in, right before the Christmas party, and was told to pack my stuff because I was being let go. I hadn't been there an entire month yet and I was being let go of and I was DEVASTATED. The letter I was given had 2 paragraphs- 1st paragraph said how I refused to ask for help and get trained when needed. 2nd paragraph stated how I asked too many questions to my coworkers and was unable to learn on my own. To this day I still hold a grudge against this company for this experience and still wish I had done something about it at that time to have her removed from her position.

Now why share this story? To show how women don't necessarily prevent themselves from positions or higher paying careers or even male- dominant careers, but sometimes systematic discrimination holds them back from meeting their full potential. I had been so young and disheartened by this experience that I had fully given up in a career in this field and changed my goals entirely. I am not the only one who has experienced this and the fact that other women in these industries do this to put other women down is even worse. Now there is still the whole "women aren't taken seriously in the conference room" aspect of this as well but I digress.
4. The right to safety and justice

I don't even know why this needs to be said but because it does, here we go....

Now obviously this is referring to the sensitive topics of rape, abuse, conditioning, etc. So for all my readers who can't handle this topic, skip ahead to 5 please as there is no need to effect your mental health. 

I have been seeing a lot of youtubers and "Religious" followers talking about how "God willed women to be servants to men" and all that nonsense. Now first of all, NO God said no such thing and it is absolutely disgusting that people use religion as a disguise for their own sick beliefs. All religions in their very foundations promote respect for women. Rape is not excusable no matter what. Married or not, consent is not an option it is a REQUIREMENT. A women's body is her own and only SHE has the right to decide what does and does not happen to it. Now personally, I don't like people touching me PERIOD unless I give permission and that extends to hugs as well and that is just my personal preference as I like my personal space. Now it is important to have open communication and understand the other person's rules towards their bodies and what they are and aren't comfortable with and respect their guidelines. If you are not sure how they feel about something ASK don't just assume. Now if someone violates this right, WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET JUSTICE! I am sorry but I hate the stories when a woman calls the cops to file a complaint about being harassed or being sent unsolicited pictures of private parts, they just laugh and go "well just block them" NO we have the right to feel safe and we have the right to get justice for being harassed. Now I have also been seeing a lot of men posting about how "hanging rapist isn't the solution, raising men with better values is" First of all, while I agree society should simply have higher expectations from men when it comes to their behavior towards women, IT IS NOT YOUR BODY THAT WAS VIOLATED YOU HAVE NO SAY! Personally, I believe they SHOULD be hanged because if there are extreme consequences for their extreme actions then next time a person will think twice before committing such a horrendous act. I believe the victim should decide what happens to the attacker and if the victim is a minor then I believe there shouldn't be any question at all as to the consequences. Women should not be victim blamed nor should they feel they need to take extreme measures to protect themselves. We have the right to feel safe regardless of where we are or what we wear. Now of course the conversation of appropriate attire for different occasions and locations is a different conversation but we should feel comfortable in our own skin and it should NOT be held against us.

Now when it comes to abuse and conditioning there is obviously two main categories and lots of smaller ones within. But for the purpose of this blog, we will simply be scratching the surface. First, there is abuse or conditioning by an outsider. This could be in result of a stranger or friend physically or mentally abusing you and convincing you that you deserve it because you are a bad person or whatever or just because they like hurting you. This is obviously NOT ok. NO ONE should ever claim the right to harm you in any way. I will say this about a thousand times in this blog but YOUR BODY IS YOURS and only YOU have the right to decide what happens to it and you have EVERY RIGHT to love yourself. Now for anyone who needs to hear this- YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, YOU ARE BRAVE, YOU ARE SMART, YOU ARE STRONG, AND YOU CAN OVERCOME THIS TOO. 

The second type of abuse and conditioning comes from those you know and love. These are people you are supposed to be able to trust and count on and people who you are told have your best interest in heart- and they should but that doesn't mean they do. These could be family members, parents, siblings, a spouse, etc. These people take advantage of your dependability on them or your innocence towards them and condition you into believing what they are doing is ok. Now this is where I have to share a disgusting example of this and I am so sorry.... There is a TV show in North Korea where a man comes onto the show with his wife and I believe is their 5 year old son. He is happily bragging about sexually assaulting and beating this young child who is clearly uncomfortable and scared. The judges panel is making fun of this situation and does not understand why the kid refuses to talk about what is happening to him in front of all these strangers for some stupid reason. What is even more shocking is that the audience doesn't seem to be bothered by this behavior and instead laughs when he shares all the awful things he does to his kid. He then goes on to share how he does this in front of other family members as well stripping the child down and exposing him. This the ONLY time any one shows any disgust and it is baffling! This guy should not be allowed anywhere near this child and should be in JAIL for what he does to the kid and they care more about him doing it in public then the fact that he does it at all. Now this is an example of the kid being conditioned from a young age that it is ok for his dad to do this to him even though he doesn't like it and feels uncomfortable. This also a form of abuse along with the physical abuse that is mentioned as well. 

In both situations it is NOT ok for people to be taken advantage of and both have victims that have the right to feel safe and deserve justice.
5. The right to freedom

*coming soon*
6. The right to express themselves

*coming soon*
7. The right to chose our careers

*coming soon*
8. The right to mental health

*coming soon*