Watch Wanda Sykes be real funny about a really serious issue.
Actually, it's not even about rape. It's about freedom from rape. I wish my vagina was detachable as well!
Wouldn't it be so nice if we didn't have to worry about rape? I think every girl lives in the shadow of rape. Have you ever experienced these: cars filled with drunken men suddenly stopping you on the road and them threatening to grab you, a neighbor touching your bare six-year-old thigh and inviting you to check out the candy in his house, your mother warning you to lock the doors when you're staying at someone else's house, enjoying a hug from a dear friend then suddenly feeling his hard on? I have.
There are more examples of my near-misses with rape. And I'm sure you have some stories to tell, too. Let me just say that I never ever let my guard down. And you know what? It's exhausting. I never get drunk (well, just once, and with Vince). I don't do drugs. I never go inside a guy's house alone. I never let a man inside the house if I'm alone. It doesn't matter if the guy is a friend or a relative—I am never ever alone with a man. I take a photo of my taxi driver and tell him, "I'm sending your photo to my husband, just in case." I walk fast and facing traffic so I can take evasive action in case a car suddenly stops me again. I automatically wear rubber shoes, jeans and shapeless shirts if I know I'll be going home late.
It's crazy but we girls have been living this way all our life. It's our normal. Wouldn't it be so nice if we can get drunk with the guys, go home late, walk the city streets alone and in the dark, wear the skimpiest outfits and not have to worry about getting raped? Alas, as long as we have a vagina, we're never safe from men.
Men, you have to be the one to change the world for us. You have to step in the role that God designed you to have: protector of women and children. Make this world a better and safer place for us!
God bless you, Mr. Stewart!
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Oh Frances, I've experienced both the car stopping and thigh touching incident. Even worse! I'm super affected by rape issues and women safety. I really hope we can do more, but as of now, the best I can do is protect myself and educate my loved ones, too. I have so many teenage nieces, nagddorm pa sa UPLB, makes me praning. Thanks for sharing safety tips that women should always, always do.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a scary time to be a woman sadly =(
DeleteAgree! When I was a kid I felt a neighbor's hard on on my eight-year-old back! At such a young age I already felt disgusted even before I actually KNEW that it was sexual harassment. And it wasn't gonna be the last time I would be sexually harassed. I guess that's why it took me 27 years before I allowed myself to have a boyfriend (yiheee another story for another day lol! ) That's why women are strong because we automatically have to be on guard.
ReplyDeleteIt's a horrible status quo, though, that women must be the vanguard of our vaginas, that we have to be strong to fend off men. The truth is no matter how strong we are, physically, men will always be stronger =(
DeleteTrue that! That's why we have to do all these precautions all the time, like sitting beside other women when we're on PUVs (like on a public bus) and if you can't get a seat next to a female the rule of thumb is transfer transfer transfer until you get one! Hahy so tiring!
DeleteHi Frances! This post is one of the reasons why I wrote my own entry about vaginas haha http://joyceehernandez.blogspot.com/2013/07/lets-talk-about.html
DeleteWanda Sykes made me laugh out loud. That's a good way of putting a sensitive topic into a joke. Sir Patrick Stewart's stand on violence just hit a nerve.
ReplyDelete