And animals don’t try to dominate others which would pretty much be equivalent to overpowering?
This all goes back to what we as a species used to be and in some ways still are. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. We’re animals.
It is far more complex than our "animal natures".
The rape culture women endure on a daily basis is one that was created and written into our social hierarchy and structures of power. Systems designed and controlled by men, for the benefit of men.
With 1 in 4 women being raped or sexually assaulted within their lifetime, this matter impacts all of us on a daily basis. But, we, as a society, have chosen to ignore it until recently.
Why would we choose not to pay attention to the warning signs sent out by oppressed victims that only now, thanks to this movement, have the ability to stand together against their oppressors?
It isn't just women that are victims of this toxic philosophy. The differently abled, People of Color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, all have been victims, to varying degrees, of the patriarchy ingrained in colonial western thought. We are all taught it, reared into it, consume it through our media and our social interactions...and it is disgusting.
It only survives because we allow it.
We must allow them a voice, we must give them the proper spaces to cope and to heal, and we must empower them to fight back against those who would hold them down.
The way to move forward is to speak up about your stories. Shame others, stop laughing at offensive racist and sexist jokes, stop allowing women to be objectified by the male dominated media and workplace, and allow the oppressed not only an equal, but louder voice, at the table.
Become involved in organizations that actively promote equality, become involved in your child's education to ensure that proper lessons are taught, from consent in sexual education courses to historical systems of privilege and oppression in history courses. Teach them about microaggressions, and how, even innocuous things they do or say, might cause others discomfort, at best, and actively discriminate, at worst.
We, quite literally, need to undo decades and centuries of male dominated concepts of consent. And to do that, we need to tear down the walls erected to support those who fight against it, for their own benefit.
It is up to you to teach your children, especially young boys and men, that their advances, jokes and even, at times, presense are not appropriate, not welcome, and, even if not physical, are an assault upon their victims.
They must recognize their privilege, be it racial, gender or economic, and actively work to reject it to resolve the sins of the past. Only then can we, as a society, move forward with true equality.
