Oh Sarah Silverman, how we love thee. The Vagina Tax Campaign has launched and so has the over the top representation of a very real issue that every woman faces. Unequal pay for equal work. And yes, the transgender community is offended, which I think is fair. Somebody is going to be offended when it involves Sarah Silverman, I think it's just a given.
Of course it's an important issue, working against unequal pay is meaningful and all that money that doesn't wind up in women's pockets winds up lining the pockets of shareholders. It's profitable to be sexist. It's not a mistake that more women retire into poverty and, as we know, have a longer life expectancy than the average man.
But there are so many more ways that girls and women are taxed everywhere.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, fewer girls go on to secondary school, depending on the Country and do more poorly on the stat tests than boys (Because I am a girl).
Women also are more likely to contract HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa due to many different factors, from socioeconomic reasons to educational.
More women commit suicide in China than men, three times more, 56% of worldwide female suicides happen in China, they have 19% of the female population.
According to researcher Steven Mosher, it is no accident that, “China's women have the highest suicide rate in the world, not to mention the highest rates of breast cancer, all in consequence of having had their babies killed in utero by a state ruthlessly bent on population control.”
Child brides, "250 million girls were married before the age of 15" October 10, the International Day of the Girl Child, was marked by a
plea by the International Federation of University women to prioritize legislation and policies to help protect girls. This is abhorrent, the robbing on a childhood. And yes, this is an old practice, but with the life expectancy of women growing and our awareness, there is no excuse.
It is simply unacceptable in the 21st century that we allow the perpetuation of these brutal practices. Arguments of culture and tradition must not be abused to provide perpetrators with impunity. The cycle must be broken.
Genital Mutilation, we don't talk much about this one, but it's
still happening in many Central African countries.
OH, there's sex trafficking, domestic violence, rape culture (College rapes are UP in our Country)…
DO I need to go on?
It's a worldwide crisis that goes beyond a tax. It's a humanitarian crisis that goes to the very question of who we are as a species. Conservatives may make fun of feminism, but there's still a real reason for it to exist and I will speak up and out until things like this don't exist anymore. It's going to be a long time. But there are more and more organizations doing something, such as the UN, a favorite target of conservatives as well. Here are some other links as well.
International Day of the girl child
Half the Sky
The National Women's Law Center
This one place sums it up quite well:
"No society treats its women as well as its men".
Just let that sink in. Gender, the second you're conceived is going to determine so many things for you. And I do understand race, socioeconomics, country of origin, etc. matters, but this, this right here is about over 50% of those of us who occupy the planet.
That is not just a tax, it's a human tragedy and failing.
Cross posted from my new blog.