Instead of Shaving Your Head...
Consider ways to support women right now.
Hang up your Handmaid’s Tale bonnet and put down the razor. Forget the “4B movement” (a protest that originated in South Korea in which women swear to not date, marry or have sex with men or to have children). Do not resort to screaming on social media or in public (but do check out this article about people screaming on a pier in Cleveland).
If you’re fearful that the next presidential administration will be harmful to women, it’s important to remember that there are women around the world who need help right now.
Did you know that:
Women and children account for 70% of all poor people in the United States?
The poverty rate for Black single mothers is 33%; for Hispanic single mothers it’s 31%; and for white single mothers it’s 24%?
Over 1 in 3 women (1 in 4 men) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime?
Girls in foster care in the United States are five times more likely to become pregnant than their same-age peers?
Women in Afghanistan are forbidden to speak in public under a new Taliban law?
Iraq is expected to lower the age of consent for girls from 18 to 9, allowing men to marry children?
In Sierra Leone, 1,120 out of every 100,000 women will die from pregnancy or childbirth complications?
Also in Sierra Leone, 90% of females ages 15-49 are forced to endure female genital mutilation?
Just 16.9% of Syrian women say they feel safe in their own communities?
South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world?
If these statistics make you angry, that’s the point. The question is, are you angry enough to take action?
If you’re in a good place in your life and have at least ten minutes to spare, you can start helping women today. Read articles. Listen to survivors. Write letters to people who can help enact change. Volunteer. Donate. Encourage others to get involved.
We hear so much about “privilege” in this country, and often it’s thrown at us from people sitting in front of a TV camera or behind a computer screen. Privilege is not a negative word unless it is used as an excuse to complain and do nothing. Or if it’s used to do something completely unhelpful, like shave your head.
In these challenging times, here’s a good mantra to remember: Why scream from a pier when you can volunteer?
It never ceases to amaze me how narrow minded American women have become. I remember when Michelle Obama led a campaign for girls in Africa who were kidnapped into slavery (the #BringBackOurGirls movement). Now even worse has happened in Afghanistan following the takeover by the Taliban, but American women are silent. They have become so focused on abortion they have lost sight of other problems women here and abroad have. I saw a video on X yesterday about a mother upset her teenage daughter would need an IUD now instead of being able to get an abortion. Isn't that the correct idea?
Excellent point! Their behavior indicates how self-centered and far away from reality they are. Stop complaining and do something positive to help others that are suffering.