User blog:Zaffie/Rights

So, I've just finished watching a program which encouraged me in a mission I've been thinking about for a long time. Specifically, it addressed the sexism which, frankly, has always been prevalent in our society, and how strong women of the 19th and 20th centuries fought against it.

Did you guys know that New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow women votes? And that Australia gave not only votes, but a chance to stand for Parliament to its women on the 1st of January, 1901? American women didn't get votes until 1920, and Canadian women in all provinces except Quebec got it at around the same time. British women got the vote in 1928, and Quebec held out until 1940.

I feel proud of my country for being the first one to stand up and say that women deserved equal rights. And I am overwhelmingly grateful for the sacrifices my ancestors made to give me this bright future. Suffragetes didn't have it easy - many of them struggled to get by without husbands, they were attacked verbally and politically by men who disliked their cause, and some of them even died at brutal rallys. But they ultimately succeeded, and that is why you and I are here today, saying that when we turn eighteen we can vote and yell at political parties with the best of them. That's why we have a right to say 'No' when men want to marry or seduce us, and that's why we have the right to use contraception and get abortions if we so choose. It all stemmed from them.

But it's not all happy news. This isn't a blog for celebration - this is a blog for change. In some parts of the world women still do not have the vote. I think you all know roughly where I'm talking about - my troops and yours are there right now, fighting for this cause.

Now, I know that most of us here are a little socially inept. I know that none of us are much older than sixteen, and I know that there really isn't much we can do. But to be perfectly honest we all know that's not true. We are the generation that will be in power in twenty or thirty years. It's up to us to start changing things now, because you might not believe it, but people do listen to children. And teenagers.

So, I have a few things to say. Try and remember how hard women fought for rights... for YOU! Most of those women never got to experience the equality they had created, but we have had it since birth. And we take it for granted. But I think it's time we started standing up for our gender a little more. All of us will be able to vote soon, and we can certainly show our preferences - we have freedom of speech too, don't forget. I can understand religious beliefs, but do any of you really think that God, if there is a God (and I don't claim to have proof either way) would prefer men over women? We call God 'Father', and isn't that the job of our parents? To love all their children, regardless of gender, race or height? Political parties or independants (and yes, this is mainly in America) who claim to disbelive in contraception and abortion are only taking away our rights! How many of you think that men who engage in casual sex are willing to support the illegitimate children they father? Having a child is a committment which lasts for all eternity - not just eighteen years. And giving one's child up for adoption does not come without a mental price - and often adopted children struggle to assimilate; they always face a problem. Why would anyone give me up? I struggled with that question myself when my father abandoned me and my family, and I would hate to feel it in relation to both my parents. In the first two months of pregnancy, the unborn child is termed an embryo, not a fetus. It cannot think, or feel, or relate. The earliest signs of true sentience occurr at ten weeks at the very earliest - embryos cannot think. To kill them is not a crime, and it should be entirely the choice of the mother. Because it is not the man who will have to carry it within his own body for nine months. It is not the man who will have to provide it nourishment, share his blood supply with it, lose aspects of his own physicality for it. Birth isn't all straight-forward, you know. Women suffer greatly during it, and often they choose to experience that. Sometimes they don't. Contraception and abortion should both be permitted, and men should respect that the pain of pregnancy and birth is something they will never, ever have to experience. It is not a choice which is up to them.

Guys, I know that we all like to look pretty. And sure, there's nothing wrong with girls wearing make-up, earrings, other piercings - after all, they choose it, and it is the choice which we fought so hard to win. But think of it this way. Do boys wear make-up? How often do any of you see a boy make a tremendous effort about his appearance? And it's nothing to do with being ugly, believe me, I have seen males wearing make-up, and they look just as... enhanced... with it. It is simply that boys/men do not feel the need to feel pretty - a need which girls/women seem unable to ignore. And in a way, that is a form of sexism. We as a gender need to realise that it's not all about our looks. Girls can be intelligent too - girls can do everything boys can and more, because they don't give life. Think of that. There is not one thing a man can do which a girl can't - apart from have dangling reproductive organs, which, frankly, is not a triumph but a biological error (True story).

Now, I like boys as much as the next reasonably straight female. Not only do I find them good-looking, I like them as friends, they're fun to hang out with, they say ridiculously funny things. But I find sexism in the most common of places - school, for example. My school had a rule stating that 'girls must wear skirts or dresses' until five years ago. Five years, guys. That is NOT a long time. This rule is outdated and ridiculous. WHY must girls wear skirts or dresses? I have had several direct experiences of sexism at my school. When I was in Year 7, a boy bullied me quite brutally. This went on for two or three weeks before it hit a peak. During an English class, the boy wrote an unprovoked poem about how much he hated me, and started to read it to the class. As I'm sure you can all imagine, it was a horrifying, miserable and humiliating moment. But the male teacher just laughed it off without the boy getting any kind of reprimand. I asked for the boy to be punished, and after a month of humming and hawing they made him apologise. But when I first asked for him to be disciplined in some way, all they said to me was: "Boys will be boys." Hands up if you've heard that saying before? Most of you? I thought so. But have you ever heard the saying "Girls will be girls."? Because I never have. And I turn fifteen in five hours.

Another example of sexism in the most innocent of settings was when my boyfriend was walking me to my car after school. We passed one of his male friends, and the boy beckoned my boyfriend away for a 'private word'. I later asked my boyfriend what he said (Okay, it was about ONE SECOND later. You guys know me xP) and he said that his friend told him: "Tell your girlfriend to dress properly." This friend was referring to the way I wear the boys version of the school uniform - shorts and long socks instead of a dress. Doesn't it make you sad that a fourteen year old boy is so conditioned that he believes it is not 'proper' for a girl to wear shorts? Because it makes me sad.

Look, I've dragged on for long enough. But I just want us all to think about this. Think about it before you put on your make-up in the morning... or whenever. I don't wear make-up. xD Think about it when you get encouraged by sports teachers to apply for netball instead of soccer. Think about it when someone makes a callous sexist remark. Defy the system if your school doesn't let girls wear trousers. And think about it when sexist, objectifying shows like the 'Lingerie Football League' come on. Guys, we are the future of humanity. And I don't know about you, but I want girls in this future to be more than just a pretty face and a sexy body. I want a gender I can be proud of. This is something most of us share. It's a bond which runs deeper than any other. Don't ever forget it.