Feminist groups have lost focus

By Patrycja Romanowska -- Edmonton Sun Freelance

As the UN just informed us, the plight of the world's women is atrocious. The discrimination is "staggering." This hit home while I was driving my car and was hit with the realization that just because I was a woman, I would not be able to do that in Saudi Arabia. For that matter, I would not be able to wear the skirt I was wearing or my hair in a visible braid.

In Kuwait, I could not vote. In Pakistan, if I was raped without four male Muslim witnesses (who obviously were no friends of mine if they were watching me get raped), I could be charged with fornication, which is actually a criminal offense there.

If I was in Nigeria, my husband could beat me for "disciplinary" purposes, and in some other countries, the men in my family could kill me to avenge some distorted sense of "honour." Every single day, I am thankful that I do not live in those places.

Further on she points out:

Regardless of whether it is so, feminists and lesbians are considered one and the same, and the contemporary "feminist" agenda seems to fortify rather than counter this assumption. Rather than going global, the fight for equal rights has stayed home and simply shifted from gender to sexual orientation.

However, fighting for the right to marry is not the same as fighting for the right not to be legally beaten and raped, and while both can be considered legitimate battles for human rights, clumping them under the banner of feminism undermines the movement. And it is very alienating for people who feel strongly about one and not so much about the other.

A friend of mine volunteered her graphic design skills for a feminist organization, only to find it was dominated by homosexual women who were applying those skills for outright (heterosexual) male-bashing and other purposes wholly incompatible with her sense of feminism and equality.

This gal has many homosexual friends and supports the cause for their rights to marry, but could not stay on with the organization.

Full article.