Day Eleven
Sometimes I follow the news…okay, I sort of make a habit of following the news. There are important things happening in the news, and I would hate for an asteroid to hit and I miss the event. In the meantime, before the asteroid, there are things that directly affect me, things that indirectly affect me, and things that don’t affect me at all…all to be had in the news. So I follow it. Today’s essay comes about because I follow the news.
IT’S A JOKE, RIGHT?
Once upon a time we attributed what sounded ridiculous in the news to the Onion. Not anymore. The poor Onion. How can they manage to compare to the real news? Like this one: The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has selected a chair for the body that deals with women’s rights. Who might that be, you ask? Why, of course! The obvious choice when you want to talk about women’s rights: Saudi Arabia.
Yes, that Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabia that requires women to have a male guardian…even one that is just a small boy…before they can go anywhere. The Saudi Arabia where women must cover their hair and their skin because the sight of a woman sends a man into an instant state of sexual desire (but it wouldn’t do to ask the men to wear blindfolds, or stay home, of course…or learn to control their lust). The Saudi Arabia where women are considered legal minors. The Saudi Arabia where women can be charged with adultery or prostitution just for speaking to a male non-relative.
Of course, since this body (CSW) has never adopted any resolutions against other repressive countries, not just Saudi Arabia but Yemen, Pakistan, Iran, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (considered the rape capital of the world), why should anything change just because Saudi Arabia is in charge? They’ve been good at maintaining their status quo all along. One might be forgiven for asking why nothing is done…if said one had stuck their head in a pillow in the sand wearing ear plugs for the past several decades. There is an answer to why no one wants to make Saudi Arabia mad, which might have to do with their practice of beheading people they don’t like, but is actually easier explained in one word, a word so simple a three-year-old could say it: Oil.
Yes, that’s right. Why are you surprised oil is more important than women? When you think about all the other things that are more important than women, should oil be any different? Sports are more important than women. Winning wars is more important than women. Rape jokes are more important than women. Okay, to be honest, all jokes are more important than women. Men are more important than women.
The list could go on forever, but it might get ridiculous in the end. I can’t name specific instances, but I can imagine that socks are more important than women. Pancakes are more important than women. Gummy bears are more important than women. Wearing a lampshade on your head is more important than women. I could go on with more ridiculous examples, but I think you get the point. When it comes to a choice between [X] and women, [X] almost always wins.
As for me, I can hardly wait to see what CSW has in store for the future of women. It’s going to be grand! Glorious! Stimulating! Yeah, right…if you’re a man…the kind of man who doesn’t believe in rights for women.