One of my assignments this week for my blog is to post a letter to the editor in regards to an article I read that affected me either positively or negatively and also got me thinking about the subject matter. Below is the link to the article I read,
Afghan Women Victims Not Perpetrators of ‘Moral Crimes’ - IPS ipsnews.net
My letter to the editor follows,
I am writing to you today in regards to the
article on "Afghan Women Victims Not Being Perpetrators of 'Moral
Crimes'." Being an American woman I am very lucky to live in a place where
I don’t have to wake up every morning in fear or my life or have life altering decisions
made for me that put me in a position to be raped, abused or even killed. I
feel terrible for these Afghan women who are dealing with these circumstances
everyday, it really saddens me as a person who supports women’s rights and
feels that women are so much stronger than many governments, religions and
people make them feel. I appreciate this article and the fact that there are
people writing about these issues and bringing awareness to these horrible
situations that the Afghan women are placed in. Hopefully this type of article will
continue to be written in order to help spread the knowledge of what is really
happening and help to bring support and equality to these women.
Thank You.
Samantha Van Ruiten
Thank You.
Samantha Van Ruiten
This is a thought I had while reading this:
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of times people chalk up the struggles that the women in Afghanistan are going through as just "part of their culture". However, this is not a defense as it's not just culture to have to live with this type of behavior. It's a crime. It's rampant misogyny, torture and discrimination that these women go through daily and it should not be tolerated.
But it's easier than you would think to chalk it up to that, because even in America we are confronted with issues like this. While the majority of us might not fear for our life daily, there is so much latent discrimination and misogynistic behavior in our society that people are used to.
American women who stand up for their reproductive rights, by choosing when they will have babies, who they will have them with, and use birth control pills or other contraceptives as a way of asserting that right have been called sluts on National Radio. Don't be fooled that it was only one talk show host. Lots of people agree with him. They might not come out and say it like he did, but by them not approving of birth control they are repressing and discriminating against women. It's not so different from Afghan women being called prostitutes for going out and getting a job. Essentially, it's being an independent women and not relying on a man, that makes you a whore. We are not so different.