Chiriquí Chatter

I consider myself a very lucky person. I would imagine that there is an abundance of people that would change places with me. Today I find myself in a beautiful country with plenty to eat and friends that I feel truly care about me. I don’t worry that I have enough money to put clothes on my back or take myself to a doctor if I am not physically at my best.

When you have all that you need and you are happy, it is very easy to forget that there are others that are less fortunate. No matter how little one may have, there is probably someone that has less and would change places with you.

I have time to read when I want, which I never seemed to be able to do when I was working in the states. I can watch TV or surf the Internet to keep current with world happenings. Having a blog allows me to express myself and has provided me with many different types of diversion. While I put it up to give my experiences living in the Chiriqui province to those that might be considering the same, it has opened up communications with people living all over the world who continually send me things to think about.

Today was one of those days that I received a thought provoker. It came from the http://ayaanhirsiali.web-log.nl/ website and this particular piece was titled The Gendercide against us written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In it, the author points out the inequities that exist between men and women in the world. The amount of these inequities varies greatly depending on which part of the world you consider, but they exist in all parts of the world nonetheless.

In the states, I probably noticed it more in the difference in the pay received by men and women performing the same jobs. I also saw a big improvement in how women were treated in the workplace during my time, but I still feel that there is more improvement to be made.

In Panama I can see that that men feel that they are superior to women. I see Indian women walking several paces behind their men as a sign of respect because it is demanded of them. I have heard Panamanian men talking about the amount of time they spend with their wives vs. the time they spend with their girlfriends. Having multiple female companions is considered normal by many of the men and accepted as inevitable by the women.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes of the following inequities:

–In countries where the birth of a boy is considered a gift and the birth of a girl a curse from the gods, selective abortion and infanticide eliminate girl babies.

– Young girls die disproportionately from neglect, because food and medical attention is given first to brothers, fathers, husbands and sons.

– In countries where women are considered the property of men, their fathers, brothers and husbands murder them for choosing their own sexual partners. These are called “honour” killings, though honour has nothing to do with it. Young brides are killed if their fathers do not pay sufficient money to the men who have married them; these are called “dowry deaths”, although they are not deaths; they are murders.

– The brutal international sex trade in young girls kills uncounted numbers of women.

– Domestic violence is a major killer of women in every country on the globe. Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be killed or maimed by their male relatives than as a result of cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war – or all of them put together.

– So little value is placed on women’s health that every year roughly 600.000 women die giving birth. As the Economist pointed out, this is equivalent to the genocide in Rwanda happening every twelve months.

– Six thousand small girls undergo genital mutilation every day, according to the United Nations. Many of them die. Others live the rest of their lives in crippling pain.

– According to the World Health Organization, one woman out of every five is likely to be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.

Her points boggle the mind and should anger you. I am not sure when this change, in how men think of women, begins. When we are but babies suckling on our mother’s breast, certainly we respect, need and love women. Who teaches us that women are second-class to men? I know when I feel low there is nothing that brightens my day more than a tender touch from a woman I respect. I have heard it said that if the second child conceived by a man was borne by him, that the world population would be greatly reduced. I think the average number of children fathered would be far less than two.

At this point in my life, I do not feel that I can make much of an impact on these inequities. I do acknowledge that they exist and feel that the God that I believe in expects nothing less of me than to treat women as my equal.

Sometimes I think that perhaps it would be better if we had more women in the leadership role of nations. Then I think that that Hilary Clinton could conceivably become President of the United States and I realize that there are extremes in any line of thought. I hope I don’t receive any more of these thought provoking articles today. My brain hurts.