Women's Issues

I have to take a summer class right now, and I am actually enjoying it more than I initially thought I would. The teacher is kind of boring, but the subject matter is what interests me. It is a pretty feminist class, all about the issues that women face around the world. I was shocked by some of the things I read about in other countries. For example, in some countries in Africa, the first bride married into a family becomes the bride of the whole family and has to have sex with every male member on the wedding night, and has to keep having sex with all of them until she becomes pregnant. Or some brides have to give sexual services to her husband's brothers or friends when they come visit the home and stay overnight. Doesn't that sound horrible? It is treating the woman like a possession, a belonging instead of a human being. Some women in voting countries (except for Jordan) have not won the right to vote until as recently as 2003! That just seems so barbaric. This class really emphasizes helping women globally to achieve equality, preventing injustices such as honor kilings (in the middle east when a family kills one of its females for being raped, having sex outside of marriage, or getting married without the family's position and thus bringing dishonor to the family) and bride burnings (when men are paid dowries by their wives and need more money, so they kill their current wife so they can get a new one and thus get a new dowry) while still maintaining each country's cultural differences. I really think we, as a world, need to be more aware of the injustices that happen here on earth and more supportive of one another, especially as females since we historically have not had as much formal power as men.

Don't get me wrong. I love men. I just think we need to be aware of what is going on around the world. After all, Jesus was a big women's libber. That's why I love him.