Friday 13 February 2015

Stupid Men


I was on Facebook reading so many posts about stupid men, especially stupid men in America (but not confined to them). And I guess a kind of anger rose up inside me. 

What kind of a world do we bring children into, I said. I said, I am the mother of five children, now I am a grandmother of five with our lovely wee Lily being born last year. And I had my children because I love children and I always wanted children and I never thought any further about any other issues. And I would never not have had them. And that's the truth. But over the last 15 years or so,  since the twin tower thing when Al Qaeda hit out at the US and then the US plunged our world into this never-ending war which has now bred ISIL, and atrocities on all sides, and so much hate and so much venom, and then add global climate change onto all that - man, I plunged into such a depression some years ago and I looked at my beautiful children and I thought about how selfish I was to bring you all into this dark horrible world. Even now it still brings tears to my eyes. I didn't want this for my kids. 

And I wrote all this to to my friend on Facebook, I wrote, no, dear Meggam, you are not being selfish, I think perhaps you are being very wise and that Pope needs to engage his brain before he opens his mouth. (Because all this came from comments the Pope made, that couples who don't have children are selfish) . But also from other thick and stupid men who want to control what women wear be they fundamentalist Christian or fundamentalist Muslim or fundamentalist anything else, and want to control women's reproductive bodies. Cover-up your bodies, men will get horny otherwise; don't cover-up your bodies, men want to ogle you; have children, don't have abortions, don't have too many children, remember the world is overpopulated already!

What is wrong with this world is not the women in it, not what we do; it is the stupid, stupid men who have reduced our world to an over-heated blood bath. Kia ora.

9 comments:

  1. There are a few good men in the world, but on the whole I think they are badly raised by a Western culture that discourages empathy and encourages power and dominance. I am lucky to have found a good one, and I am sure your sons were raised to be good people, but in general they horrify me.

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    1. Yes. This post was aimed at the stupid men, not our decent ones.

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    2. There seems to be the beginnings of another drumbeat for a ground war against ISIS or ISIL In some quarters over here, Iri Ani. It just goes on and on I'm afraid.

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    3. It surely does. Are we banging our heads against the wall in futility?

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  2. It is very disheartening, especially when the overwhelming nature of everyday sexism goes virtually unnoticed, and young women think they have "won" the battle for equality. Oh my dears, you really haven't a clue :(

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  3. Yes. They don't realise either how quickly what has been won can be lost. And It has been such a short time really that women (that is women in western societies) have been able to vote, have been able to stand as representatives in our governments, have been allowed to divorce our husbands, get credit in our own names, the list goes on. You can't do links in these comments properly, 'tis so annoying. But this was one of the links Meggam alluded to: http://www.salon.com/2015/02/13/gop_lawmaker_calls_women_a_lesser_cut_of_meat/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow and here is another one: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/12/385735269/couples-who-chose-not-to-have-children-are-selfish-pope-says Keep them barefoot and pregnant indeed!

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  4. But we are the other half of the human race - it's so tragic. Am not anti men, but sometimes can't help wondering how we can be part of the same species!

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    1. Sometimes I wish we were not the same species!

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  5. hard to believe so much discrimination still exists in this modern world of ours but it seems to be getting worse not better and I've no idea why. Some of the conversations I overhear on the bus or in the street make me think I'm still living in the 1950's.

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