Inequality is why so many women took to the streets
The harassment,
abuse and
discrimination has become so normal that many women dont even talk about it
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed
Things are better than they have ever been, for women and men, but discrimination persists
I have two daughters, I have a mother, I am a woman. I know that the reality of living a full, free, safe life with opportunity and equality was not my mothers, nor is it my reality. The question is, will it be a reality for my girls?
I know that what I have is far better than what women have ever had. I know that what I enjoy now is far greater than many around the world including many women. I am fortunate to have education and health care, a choice about how to live my life, and I live that life in relative safety. For many women these are dreams.
A hundred years ago, most people, men and women, did not have access to these resources and rights. For both men and women, equal participation across economic and social divides, along with gender discrimination were the norm. How far we have come, and how many dreams of equality, rights and participation have already come true.
But I also know that the war is not won for women.
To know that this vast discrepancy is real and unjust, you dont need to be a woman, have a daughter or even try to pretend that its about doing your mother a favour. This is about sheer humanity, an aspiration for justice and a belief that we all do better when we treat everyone as human beings.
Sometimes, though, it is hard to appreciate the effect or the scale of the challenge. The harassment, abuse and discrimination is just so normalised that many women dont even talk about it. That yank on your headscarf, being groped in public, being ignored in the office meeting, being told to be patient for the greater good, being told it was your fault because of the way you looked, to be sold into marriage, to be forced to have a baby with no health care.
To linger on the many instances is draining, and many women prefer to ignore it all and carry on with their lives.
When many of these issues are raised they are slapped down as moaning, because women have never had it so good. Its not moaning, its calling out oppression.
What women face every day, in their homes, on their streets, in the workplace, in health centres, in schools and universities (if they are allowed to even attend) all around the world, is a wholesale oppression. The war against women continues to rage. Terrorism is highlighted as the scourge of our time, every day in the news. But some describe what women face as a form of terrorism against half the worlds population perpetuated every day in their own homes.
Thats why we need womens marches. Thats why the millions of people around the world are gathering together to mark a turning point for change. The criticism of marches is always what do they achieve? Simple: solidarity, shared aspirations, a vast assertion that we do not accept the status quo and it must change. A heartening unity. Allies who support each other simply because it is the right thing to do. A statement about wrongdoing rather than an invisibility. Its a flag in the face of those perpetuating discrimination that we know what you are doing and youre not going to get away with it. Dark clouds are gathering overhead for the worlds women. With the inauguration of Donald Trump the state of global gender relations will probably face another onslaught.
Weve seen the bad behaviours against women that he has exhibited at a personal level.
Now what we must face up to is that his powerful public leadership status underscores a resurgence of the demagogic strongman in global politics. Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and of course the persistence of the strongman in the Middle East affects the tenor of global politics.
In both the United States and Russia, Trump and Putin are seen by many including women as real men. Their authoritarianism is precisely what is said to make them good, strong, real leaders.
Its an interesting bind we find ourselves in, especially if we are advocating more gender balance and respect in society. We complain about authoritarianism but then we vote in a strongman to be the saviour.
In the home we expect men to be nurturing and respectful, yet in leadership roles we want aggression and dominance.
We must be clear: these two spheres of public and private dont exist in isolation. They are connected. So theres an inherent contradiction. Our ideas of masculinity have not progressed as far as we think.
Public and private behaviour mirror each other, so we need to adjust our ideas of what it means to be both a real man and a real leader.
This is not as easy as it sounds. Our ideas of a real leader are very deeply embedded through centuries of history, myth and national founding stories.
It is these deep stories we must push back on. Trumps presidency should not be a new chapter for this story. Instead, we must make it the last hurrah that heralds in the erasure of the villainous strongman on the global stage.
Things are better than they have been, but it is not even close to enough. This is not the end, but the point at which we redouble our efforts.
Thats the only way we can consolidate the future, not just for daughters, but for all of our children.
The writer specializes on gender issues
