What Makes People Tick?

 Have you ever met a woman who has never, not once in her life, had to deal with sexism? If you have, I congratulate you. I've never met one. Sexism, as the definitions below show, is when a person is treated a certain way or discriminated against based on their gender. The term is often used to refer to discrimination or prejudice against/about women, however can be applied to men equally. Every woman will have a different view of what words, actions or behaviour she sees as sexist. Two women, two people, might see an action or event differently, based on their life's experiences and their own frame of reference. What one might see or experience as sexism might just be a joke to another, might be a throw-away comment, or might be something that barely registers.  SEXISM: "Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination,  typically against women, on the basis of  sex: 'sexism in language is an offensive  reminder of the way the culture sees women' ...

Me Too? Yes. Me Too. #MeToo It's something I don't talk about all that much unless there's a reason to. Partly because it can make me feel weak to admit it. Partly because I'd much rather forget. Partly because society tells us not to make a big deal out of nothing. Partly because I just want to keep going instead of crying or feeling sorry for myself. Partly because being harassed is something so terribly common that we've just accepted it as something to grin and bear, like crying babies on the bus or people loudly yelling into their phones on the metro or intimidating groups of teens on the train. But yes. Me too. Yes I've been harassed. Yes, I've been hassled. Yes, I've had strangers grab different parts of my body while walking down the street. Yes, I've been insulted and assaulted. Yes I've been objectified. Yes I've been told I'm a stuck up bitch because I wanted to enjoy the live music at a pub instead of being chatted up b...

Why is it that some men seem to think it is necessary to treat women as nothing more than 'a piece of ass' or as 'eye-candy'? I understand that as human beings with eyes, we look around us and at others while walking around - most people don't like walking into other people, buildings or parked cars, after all - however does it really need to be accompanied by cat-calls, whistles, groping and lewd comments? Will there ever be a time when women are appreciated as they are and for who they are as human beings? Women are not food, gadgets, mannequins or toys - we make up half the population of the world and are simply just as human as any male. Whatever your religious background or view on a woman's proper place or role - surely it is possible to treat all women as if they are your mothers, sisters and daughters?

"Surveys suggest that as few as    one in 10 cases [of rape] are ever    reported to the police in many countries" Top 5 Countries with the Highest Rates of Rape  The International Business Times (UK), January 2014 The Times of India reports in a July 2014 article that "If one goes by the latest statistics of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every day 93 women are being raped in the country." The article explains that the total number of reported rape cases in India has gone up. In 2012, a total of 24,923 rapes were reported while in 2013 the total number came to 33,707. This means that more women are coming forward and filing reports; more women are speaking up about what is being done to them. I can only hope the trend continues, and 2014 will see even more reports.  Wikipedia's article Rape in India puts the above numbers into perspective. Looking at the same data, the article explains that "24,923 rape cases were reported a...

Source : BBC News   Only minutes after writing about how the #YesAllWomen hash-tag is sweeping the world, I came across an article from Al Jazeera. According to the article, two teenage girls were found hanging from a tree after being GANG-RAPED BY FIVE MEN in India's Uttar Pradesh state. A quote from the article: "Records show a rape is committed every 22 minutes across the country of 1.2 billion people, though activists say that number is low because many victims are reluctant to come forward." Source : Indian girls found hanging after gang-rape , Al Jazeera English EVERY 22 MINUTES. How? Why? In what twisted, ridiculous world are numbers like that even reality? In what world are human beings treated as nothing but objects by other human beings? Rape is one of the most vile, inhuman things that one human being can do to another. I can't begin to find the words to express my utter disgust when I read this, when I try to think of the incredible unfairness of ...

Twitter 29-05-2014, 14:24 CET While I try to stay (reasonably) up-to-date with current affairs in order to write about developments I find interesting, sometimes Life Intrudes and reading the newspaper or watching the news really is the last thing on your mind. Often when Life Intrudes in this way, developments surprise me. This is exactly what happened with the #YesAllWomen (Yes All Women) hash-tag action currently sweeping Social Media. The screen capture on the right was taken only a few minutes ago. New Tweets keep appearing fast and it seems like the #YesAllWomen hash-tag is shaking up the world. And rightly so, because the way some men continue to objectify and mistreat women is simply unacceptable. The Guardian explains how #YesAllWomen came to be: "In the days since Elliot Rodger murdered six people in Isla Vista, California, citing hatred of women and sexual rejection as the reason for his rampage, women across the world have come out en masse to share their st...

Source : Pew Research Center Sometimes you need to read the numbers and see the statistics to understand just how often something happens. Take harassment or discrimination based on one's religion, for example. Pew Research reports that in Europe, 51% of Christians, 69% of Jews and 71% of Muslims face harassment. In other parts of the world, the numbers are just as shocking. Take the Middle East and North Africa where 65% of Christians, 70% of Jews and 75% of Muslims face religious harassment. "In nearly three out of every four countries of the world, religious groups experience harassment by individuals or groups in society. The harassment and intimidation take many forms, including physical or verbal assaults; desecration of holy sites; and discrimination against religious groups in employment, education and housing." Source : Social Harassment of Religious Groups , Pew Research Center

Source: Countries with Sharia Rule Intellectual Takeout The Sultanate of Brunei is a tiny oil-rich country in East Asia with a population of about 440,000 people. Roughly seventy percent of it's inhabitants are Muslim. Brunei's ruler announced in 2013 that the country would be gradually adopting Sharia law. Sharia is the Islamic code of law based on the social and religious rules as laid out in the Muslim holy book, the Koran (Qur'an). CNN reports that during a ceremony last week "the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanel Bolkiah, announced the commencement of the first phase of the sharia-based penal code, according to the government's official website."

Sad but true. Both men and women the world over label and judge others based on how they look, what they wear and how they choose to express themselves.  A recently published study by the Brazilian Institute for Applied Economics ( IPEA ) shows that a stunning 65% of respondents found that a woman who dressed provocatively deserved to be attacked or raped .  "Earlier this week, a study was released that said a startling 65.1 percent of Brazilians either partially or wholly believe that "if dressed provocatively, women deserve to be attacked and raped." In addition, the study revealed a 58.5 percent complacency with the belief that "if women knew how to behave, there would be less rape." ~ Huffington Post

"Married gays to tour drought-hit countries" This is a response from The Daily Mash to the article I linked to in yesterday's post. As far as I'm concerned it's bloody brilliant!   " Married gays to tour drought-hit countries Gay people in civil partnerships, who have been granted the power to summon rainstorms from the heavens by God and UKIP, plan to use it benevolently. Nathan Muir, who saw storm clouds forming as he kissed his husband on their wedding day, said: “We’re honeymooning in Sub-Saharan Africa so that we can bring the waters of gayness to its parched landscape." Thanks to the amazing George Takei for sharing this on his Facebook page .

Apparently, when two people love each other and want to get married to seal that love, this man's idea of the Christian God gets angry and punishes an entire country. Why? Read on at the BBC website .  "[UKIP councillor David] Silvester, from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, defected from the Tories in protest at Mr Cameron's support for same-sex unions. In the letter to the Henley Standard he wrote: "The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war." Religion fascinates me in all its ways, shapes and forms. Religious people also fascinate me, as do their actions, reactions, responses and modern-day interpretations of (for instance) Old Testament stories. How do religions adapt to modern-day society, if they do at all? And how do religious people adapt, if they do? ...

"If a woman has the right to show off what she has, then she also has the right to cover it up too" The picture has the original source written in the bottom right corner. I found this picture attached to this article on the HijabiTopia blog . I found the article to be a very interesting read as it explains the writer's views on hijab / Islamic head covering and modest dress.  While I myself don't wear a headscarf, I know many women who do and greatly admire them for doing so as they face scorn and ridicule for standing up for their faith and for what they believe in.