The world we live in, or society should I say, has been designed to spew hatred towards women. This hate hides in many different forms from workplace sexism to rape. But more recently society’s longing desire to diminish women and control them has come in the shape of a near-total ban on abortion in the United States.
Now, of course, the US is not representative of the whole world, however, it is considered a global leader and first-world country. Not to mention the fact that a further 34 countries have entirely banned abortion across the world, including in cases of incest, rape or infant abnormality. While a further 50+ only allow abortions in cases of rape or incest.
The abhorrent overturning of Roe v Wade is a direct attack on the human rights of women, putting millions of lives at risk. In particular, the lives of women from lower socio-economic backgrounds or from ethnic minority backgrounds. But the attack on women’s human rights goes beyond that of abortion. Our society is dictated by the male ego, regardless of how much ‘#feminism’ we promote.
Women have always been in a constant battle for basic human rights, and with each progressive move we make, men find a new way in which they discriminate against us. When women were finally given the right to education and to work, they were met with gender pay gaps and house-wife dominated education. Let’s not forget that some women are even denied those rights, take Afghanistan as an example. According to Statista, “there are only twelve countries in the world which offer full legal protections to women.” That is just 12 countries out of 195, just remind yourself that we are living in the 21st century.
The ban on abortion in America has been a wake-up call to many, helping them come face to face with the unprepossessing patriarchy we live in. Despite movements like #MeToo and other women’s rights demonstrations, followed by the bombarding of social media with solidarity posts, society remains programmed to discredit women.
While issues of lower pay, lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare are prominent issues women face, in particular those of colour, these are just the tip of the iceberg. Before we come to tackle these issues, we need to come to terms with the harsh reality that society hates women so much that in many parts of the world it's killing them.
Human Rights Watch has previously stated, “Women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labour and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts where rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. Around the world, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are needlessly high, and women are prevented from making deeply personal choices in their private lives.”
Until issues of such grave importance, where women’s lives are at risk are dealt with, it almost seems futile to fight for equal pay. Why waste time and energy trying to advocate to a society that doesn’t care if we live or die, let alone treat us like equals.
For as long as men don’t allow us to have control over our own bodies, whether that’s through abortion, female genital mutilation or arranged marriage, we can wave goodbye to economic and social freedom. Unicef found that in 2018, “Around 650 million women across the globe were married before the age of 18” and in 2016, “Over 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have undergone female genital mutilation.”
What’s most absurd in this ever-growing hatred towards women is the sheer audacity. The audacity of men, and some women to be perfectly honest, to think that women are the inferior gender when it has been scientifically proven that in many ways we conquer men. We not only have a longer life expectancy than men, but we also handle emotional and physical pain better than our male counterparts.
So why does the world hate women? It seems as though this deeply rooted hatred for women stems from the sheer fear of our power and ability. Through the constant promotion of misogyny over a prolonged period of time, men have led women to believe that we are in fact subservient to them. Misogyny has been in practice for so long that it is basically second nature, allowing men to diminish our societal roles, while simultaneously discriminating against us for being in the very position they put us in.
In simple terms, men hate women because they fear us. In reality, there’s a lot they could learn from us, including empathy for one.
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