Monday, March 24, 2008

[oppression] why - just tell me why

One of the major themes on this blog is [and is increasingly going to be] on mindless oppression, particularly of women.

It's in my nature as a man to do all I can to fight pernicious attempts to demean women and as a gender I love them. One lady and I were having a "gender war" the other night with a difference - she was vehemently arguing the reasons men were better and I was listing the reasons I love women.

But arguments such as that don't actually solve the problems and bloggers can do little more but still it must be attempted. One such is Jams O'Donnell who posted this:

The Afghan Olympic team has plenty of problems with run-down facilities and a woeful shortage of funds, but only Mehboba Andyar . the sole woman competitor, has had to prepare herself mentally for the biggest challenge of her life while dealing with sinister midnight telephone calls, the open derision of her neighbours and even police harassment.

When she competes against some of the finest runners in the world, with skills honed at the best facilities, Miss Andyar knows that she has little chance of a medal in either the 1,500m or 800m competitions.

Just getting to Beijing will be more of an achievement than most athletic stars will ever know, even if she will be noticed on the racetrack mainly for wearing traditional Islamic dress instead of skin-tight Lycra, and for the novelty of being an Afghan woman.

Please get over there to read the full thing if you haven't already done so. Another is Santi W who is fighting for women in her own language in Indonesia but from a traditional perspective [non-Feminist].

5 comments:

  1. The story at Jams O'Donnell site makes you appreciate what is around in your own country. Miss Andyar will be a winner whether she gets gold, silver or no medal at all. The oppression of women has its extremes just as feminism does.

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  2. I recently read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. The story highlights the oppression of women in Afghanistan during the rise and fall of the Taliban. I read it for my book group and it led to a very interesting discussion!

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  3. I will certainly go over and read the whole of jams's post.
    Weren't you chuckling at the derision of the former Lady McCartney earlier, James? - I can't stand her either but targetting her disability is beyond the pale to me.

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  4. This sort of oppression should not be happening in this day of age. Women have already proven themselves enough. They have even entered any field men had.

    You might be interested in the Young Entrepreneur Society from the www.YoungEntrepreneurSociety.com. A great documentary about successful entrepreneurs.

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