Women’s March On Washington: Why It’s Not Misogynistic To Be Critical Of First-World Feminism [Opinion]


The Women’s March on Washington, also known as the Million Women March, is an event scheduled to take place in Washington D.C., as well as in several other cities across America and the world on January 21, the day after Donald Trump officially becomes the President of the United States of America.

According to the Women’s March on Washington website, there are over 600 “Sister Marches,” which are all the marches that are not taking place in D.C., and more than one million “Sister Marchers,” which are women set to attend the Sister Marches on January 21, hence the nickname “Million Women March.”

On Thursday, the Women’s March on Washington event was the subject of criticism, debate, and cynicism on Twitter, with #RenameMillionWomenMarch trending. It was plain to see by the people utilizing this hashtag that there are many who don’t agree with the sentiment that American women are still in the midst of fighting for equal rights. At the same time, there are a lot of people, both men and women, who still see Western-society women as victims of cultural oppression.

I am of the former mindset. I don’t believe women in this day and age are oppressed in Western society. I think it is incredibly asinine to believe in the notion that Western females are thought of as socially, economically, politically, and sexually inferior to their male counterparts.

These two Muslim women are completely covered from head to toe, as is custom in some parts of the world. This photo was taken in Istanbul, Turkey in 2013. [Image by meunierd/Shutterstock]

One of the reasons I don’t agree with these stances of first world feminism, which is at the heart of the Women’s March on Washington, is because there are women living in other parts of the world who are definitely not seen as equals in the eyes of both government and civilian society.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries are notorious for their oppressive treatment of women. In certain areas of the Middle East, women are seen, at best, as second-class citizens and at worst no better than dogs. It’s the culture of these countries that dictates how females are seen in society, and while some say Islam and the Koran are to blame, as these are Muslim majority nations, others dispute this, claiming Islam is not specifically to blame for the oppressive treatment of women.

Someone at BBC believes Islam has something to do with it, as their spoof show, Real Housewives of ISIS, pokes fun at radical Islam’s treatment of women from the perspective of militant wives.

https://youtu.be/g-xWQF66VZs

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the women participating in Women’s March on Washington aren’t doing it to bring attention to the oppression of women in much of the Middle East. I bet a good percentage of them have never even heard of “honor killings,” a barbaric practice in which women are severely beaten, sometimes they’re even killed, for breaking a “rule” of the culture they live in. These “rules” are things Western women wouldn’t dream of not breaking. In fact, women break these rules all the time in Western society and don’t even think of it because they live in a free society. They are blessed.

Honor killings are done to mostly women and mostly by the women’s male family members, according to the Washington Post. The reason these killings take place is because it is thought that by women acting certain ways or partaking in certain activities, they are bringing dishonor to the family name.

“She is a sister who falls in love with a man not of her family’s choosing. She is a daughter who refuses to agree to an arranged marriage, sometimes to a man old enough to be her father. She is a wife who can no longer stay in an abusive marriage and divorces her husband.”

These situations are a part of everyday life here in America. To kill a woman because she does not wish to stay married to a man who beats her? Here in the U.S., we do our best to help women who are trapped in such a situation, but in parts of the Middle East, the police can hardly be bothered to deliver justice to the person who has dealt out an honor killing, according to a short Vice documentary.

In July of 2016, Qandeel Baloch, a female Pakistani model who had made a name for herself on social media, was murdered by her brother in an honor killing. The brutal incident made international headlines, but was all too soon forgotten because Baloch is far from the only victim of this horrific practice. The only reason her death was global news is because she was known by social media users throughout the world.

Qandeel Baloch pictured just a couple weeks before her death by honor killing. [Image by M. Jameel/AP Images]

The murder of Tasleem Rajhu, who was 18-years-old and also lived in Pakistan, was an honor killing carried out by her brother when he shot her in the head at the dinner table. The reason? She had married a Christian man and thus had brought dishonor upon the family name, according to the blood-brother who didn’t think twice about slaying the young lady who had her whole life ahead of her.

Breitbart is the news organization who reported on Tasleem’s murder, and they report on a lot of the honor killings that take place in the Middle East. Left-wingers love to demonize Breitbart for “promoting hate speech.” I for one would love to know how informing people about the brutal, highly problematic and troubling practice of honor killings is “hate speech.” Do the people who believe this prefer to remain blind to the horrors of the world because it doesn’t directly affect them?

I invite you to send an article about honor killings to a modern day first world feminist on Twitter, then see how long it takes before that person blocks you.

Honor killings are a perfect example of why Western women have it so good, but there are other things that illustrate the ridiculousness of an event like Women’s March on Washington. Are the women taking part in the Million Women March allowed to drive? Are they allowed to go out in public by themselves? Can they make their own decisions without being punished for doing so? Are they seen as having the same value of men in the eyes of the government and the majority of society?

This Pakistani mother and daughter were attacked with acid as punishment for the mother being sexually abused. [Image by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images]

Yes? Then they should consider themselves lucky because there are women in other parts of the world who would love to do these things but are forbidden because their culture dictates it. I bet they’d also love the chance to organize their own Women’s March on Washington if they had the freedom to do so.

It’s time for Western world feminists to take their blinders off and see things as they are. Women out there are suffering because they are not given the rights we Western women take for granted; rights the women who are participating in causes like the Million Women March exploit in the name of victimhood.

The Women’s March on Washington is a futile attempt at equal rights in an already equal society, and this is one reason why people don’t support it. If you really love women and want to help them, there are many out there who need your help. You just won’t find them at the Million Women March.

[Featured Image by Vladimir Gjorgiev/Shutterstock]

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