Feminism - Breaking Chains

In recent times, the Breast Cancer awarness campaigns have raised this incidious desease in the minds of many of my fellow men.

It makes sense too; as a man, it is my Wife, My Daughter, My Mother, My Aunts & My Female Friends & Acquaintances that will suffer from this disease. Thus, I would like to see it cured as I do not wish for any woman I know to get this disease. I have a vested Interest in this.

In the same sense, I wish nothing but the best for my daughter in here life; I want my wife to be treated as due to her experience & training (of which she has plenty)
I want my female relatives & friends to be taken seriously as employees & be offered opportunities based upon their skills.
A man should not get a role just because he is male, or happened to have goon to the same school, or belongs to the same footy club as his boss.

Further, I really want my Daughter & Wife & Mother & Aunts & Sister & Cousins & Friends to be treated well by their male relatives & associates.

Most men feel the same way. I do not think it is surprising really.

BUT, This outlook, actually marks me as a (male) feminist. I am proud to out myself as a Feminist too. I am in good company too.

So when Sarah Silverman - (a comedienne who I am not actually that familiar with if I am honest) recently released her "Ten Rape Prevention Tips" (Below) I was really surprised at the size of the discontent amongst my fellow males in response:

Twitter Here
Link Here

I like Sarah's piece. I support it. She is actually having a red hot go at the victim shaming rubbish that so many repeat.

It's message is simple; If a woman is raped IT IS THE FAULT OF THE RAPIST.

Simple & easy to follow advice for all young men. Stop blaming the Victims with that rubbish like "She should not have been drinking... Blah Blah Blah..." It is all rubbish & for you to repeat it makes you a lesser man.

This leads me to my veiws on some very shocking murders that have really gotten under my skin; poor Jill Meagher & Stephanie Scott.
These have affected me as I cannot remain "third party" removed enough. In addition to the general  tragedy of Stephanie, Stephanie grew up not that far away from where I live currently, in the same council area(Cabonne) . She was a teacher - a role that I respect deeply; she was at a workplace alone doing work because she cared.

Despite not being related to her or her husband Tom, the murder of Jill Meagher affected me as well. We share an uncommon last name; she was abducted after a night out after work with friends... A women just walking along the street by herself.

Just two modern women living life & having that life taken from them by a man

I think it was the proximity that I felt about both these cases that has irked me & caused me to write this piece.

As a man, I am deeply offended by the behaviour of the men involved in these innocent ladies. (AND the other unmentioned crimes against so many other innocent women). I am deeply offended by these sleazy pick up artists that preach that misogynistic "Women are for your Pleasure Rubbish". I am offended in so many ways that I would not be able to write this piece & finish before the year 2050.
There is no excuse for this "I am better than you thinking".

Most of this anger is purely because men treat women like rubbish; not like equal partners in life.

So, to those men that were offended by the Sarah Silverman comedy piece above, what do you really get offended by?

a). The poor behaviour of or fellow man? Repeating Victim Blaming statements? Not caring that either of these ladies that I mentioned could be your Wife/Sister/Daughter/Mother?

OR

b). The ironic insights from a woman about victim shaming & sexual Assault?

So lets put away the impotent twitter feed furry & do something.

So What to do:
Repeat after me: I will embrace the newly empowered male-feminist mantra & say to a fellow man when he repeats something stupidly blaming a victim of a sex crime "Mate, let's not blame the victim; the criminal is at fault here"
Simple & easy & Not aggressive enough to cause a fight & certainly makes a point about the responsibility for the act.

Finally, whilst he had many flaws, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk summed up my thoughts:

“Human kind is made up of two sexes, women and men. Is it possible that a mass is improved by the improvement of only one part and the other part is ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains and the other half can soar into skies?”
From this site

Brothers, Let's Break the chains

Leigh

Radicals...

There has been a few stories come to light recently about Australians going to fight in the Middle east; either for or against the terrorist group known as ISIL; most of the media coverage is in regards to those misguided individuals who go to fight with the terrorists. In addition, there have been some home grown burgeoning terror cells arrested, declaring that they wish to strike terror into the common Australian household as part of this "anti-western" or "Islamic" cause.

This has sparked much anti-Islamic rhetoric about the place (including the internet...). There has been much discussion about how to stop the "Radicalisation" of Islamic youth. At this point, I would like to repeat the quip that was posted somewhere "To a Muslim, ISIL is as religious & as representative as the Ku Klux Klan is to a Christian" & would not like my kids involved in any of those organisations.

On a human level, these kids are doing the exact same thing, that thousands of Australian kids did when they enlisted in the Australian Army 100 years ago. They want to belong to something bigger than them.

They want to do something that marks them as having made a a stand in the most manly & deliberate way

I do not know how we stop this, largely because I believe that it is so deeply engrained into our Human make up. Just think about it in the terms of what we define ourselves by. Religion, Nationality, Language, Ethnic grouping, Sport, Hobbies, the way we Dress, the list is endless. These are universal experiences to a Human & we are involved in these be cause we want to be bigger than just ourselves. The quintessential & basic "Us" versus "Them".

And we can all be part of "Us" in many ways... To explain-  I recently watched Russell Crows movie "The Water Diviner"; I found a poignant part of the movie where Russell's character apologises to his son for filling his head with guff about duty, king & country that lead him to enlist in the Army; the point being that this over-connection to the empire was the cause of the death of his two other sons. The belief that they would simply smash all before them & come home unscathed as they were British (as Australia was in those days).

Have a look at the results of some World War 1 recruitment posters that a quick Google search revealed (I have only selected the English language posters), but I wish to demonstrate a point;

We all have to do our duty... WE are "Us"

Imagine this if  the Military man was an Islamic State fighter... "Us" v "Them"

Both of these appeal to the side of every man out there to join in the noble cause; in this case the Allied side of WW1.  Further, I found this one, from Canada

We welcome all nationalities... into "Us"

This is the next step, at the time the Irish nationalist movement was beginning to take hold; but, here we have a colonial perspective appealing to those of Irish extraction who were also the sports types to join in the great sport, to put it simply, Appeal to a particular ethnic group & get them to join in on something that they are not really involved with; "Us" becomes ever wider...

Women could help as well:

In contrast, the Modern Woman can become a war bride if she so chooses...

The loving woman could give their child or sweetheart a white feather to further encourage them to join tge fight if they liked; Women are an important part of "Us"...

So, that was WW1; the same things happened in WW2 & Korea & so on (Google for your own & see!)

The next step in my argument is 1960's Australia & the Communist Party. There was a Television documentary on some of the subjects of ASIO watch lists Called Persons of interest (Facebook link here); many of those watched were Communists. The interviews with these now 60-somethings tended to show that at the time they were largely just University kids looking to rebel against something, anything; yet many were interested in taking things up a notch & bringing change & making statements that were not just words... They ultimately outgrew their radicalisation & became normal members of society.

The Commies did a Style of "Us" that was aimed at the "Workers"...

"Us" in the case above was Oz Communists bringing the religious fever to the Heathens that were not Communists... "Us" were just middle class kids with a cause that they felt passionately about.

It is still about too - look at this one from the George W Bush Era:

"Us" v Someone who is not part of our group...

This poster is directly appealing to the Irish & the globalisation debate; What if it were appealing to young Australian Muslims? What if it said: Won't you Come & Fight Bush, in Syria... Particularly after you (as a Muslim) had been targeted by thugs with southern cross tattoos on a train after going to the Beach at Cronulla. All of a sudden the "Them" & "Us" become clearer & the actions to someone who is young & angry about injustices then becomes a lot more justifiable.

Solutions???
Charlie Pickering on Channel 10s "The Project" called for a wide ranging enquiry about the radicalisation problem; I suspect that this would assist greatly if it is conducted, time will tell, & the Government will be persuaded to run an inquiry if more us us generally talk about this issue in open terms to the Powers that Be.

Ultimately, This problem is going to take along time; this radicalisation phenomena is not new & therefore will not change easily.

This is going to take tolerance; the fortitude to say to one of "Us" that "them" are not so bad or different, this applies to which "Us" you are...

This is going to take a lot of love. Compassion will win out, But, violence is not the answer on this front, unfortunately, Humans seem to be conditioned to accept violence as normal, indeed, when you look at most blockbuster movies, violence is the mainstay. This is going to be hard, very hard as it is easier to stay quiet & hope that the issue goes away

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but I feel that we as a group will ultimately beat this problem. I call upon all to discus this issue with a sense of compassion & with a mood to making the world a better place

Anyway, Those are my thoughts

Leigh