So I am thinking about human rights these days. First is all the hoopla around the issue of gay marriage these last two day, now that it’s finally made it to the supreme court.
About time – I say!
So, I wanted to blog about gay rights and marriage, but then I was struck about a news story I came across about this young activist who’s gone missing. A young Tunisian woman named Amina posted a challenge to the whole of the Muslim world when she emblazoned across her nude torso, a slogan that proclaims her body as her own. Brave soul posted it for the world to see on social media sites.
Of course it goes viral, and now women across the globe are posting similar pictures in support of Amina. There’s even an international….’breast in’ scheduled for April 4, 2013.
You can count on yours truly gettin’ in on that action!
Seriously, my heart goes out for this brave heroine, who has gone missing after such a brazen display. The feminist organization she was supporting, FEMEN, has had their website hacked and now it looks like an internet war is on.
I’ve read her parents committed her to a psych ward, (cause you know girls who want control over their lives, bodies and reproductive abilities are a bunch of dangerous whores!), and of course, there’s people calling for for her to be stoned.
It doesn’t matter, the lesson is always the same. Women all over the world don’t have power over their own bodies. And those who step out of line face terrible consequences; public shaming if not outright violence.
There’s just something about that bugaboo- sexuality and power. And fear around envisioning alternative arrangements.
So here’s a little prayer for all souls who face persecution for being any kind of sexual or gender rebel. I truly do pray for the day when when we can live and let live, a little.
I can’t help but hear the words of John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ in my head as I write this. “Imagine there’s no heaven…And no religion too…you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one”
I’m trying to keep the faith that one day we really can live as one.
One humanity…in all it’s beautiful variety.
