International Women's Day

I've always been of two minds about days like this.  Sure, it's a great idea, especially in countries where women are still second or third class citizens.  It happens within religions, of course.  We are lucky as Pagans that most of our religions are so equal to women and men.  Here in North America, men usually make more money than women do, women are still let go from jobs because the choose to become a parent.  Women are thought less of if they have *GASP* sex with more than one or two men in their lives, where as if men sleep with lots of women he's a "stud".  Women are the main victims of rape and domestic violence, something I've experienced as well.  Most of us probably know at least one woman who has been raped.  Not counting myself, I know 4.  And those are just the ones who told me.  If you want a real count, you could probably double that number.  It's a scary thought, isn't it?  Especially for those of us raising daughters.  We all know the statistic that in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes.  Think about that.  Look at your clock.  Right now a woman is being raped.  Look at it again in two minutes, and know that it's happening again.  Now count seconds.  Every 12 seconds, a woman in America is abused.  On average, more than 3 women are killed everyday by their husbands or boyfriends.  Anyone can find these numbers anywhere online.

It goes the other way too though.  Because all of the statistics are about women, men who are raped or abused don't want to report it.  Men are portrayed as stupid in the media.  They are portrayed as uncaring, as animals who would rather sleep with anything of the opposite sex that moved instead of being in a meaningful relationship, let alone sticking around to raise whatever children they help create.  Sadly, so much of what women think about men comes from this.  I've been guilty of it too.  I'm lucky enough to be married to a man that is intelligent and caring, loyal, and a great father.  I'm sure that a lot of men are like that.

I think instead of special days for each sex, or race, we need to have everyday.  Everyday should simply be, "Equality Day".

No matter who we are, what color we are; what sex we are; what our religion is.  We should all be on equal footing with each other.