How The Media Failed Women

Today I happened upon this video made by Time called How The Media Failed Women 2013. The video is below and I encourage you to watch it. 

The first few moments of this video excite me.  I am so excited that women are doing more in the world and receiving positive recognition for it.  The rest of the video made me very sad and made me want to throw my computer against a wall like I threw Of Mice and Men against the wall the first time I read it.  I reckon that is my reaction to blatantly injustice and inequality. 

I am a person who is deeply committed to people being treated well and being treated equally.  If you ask my close friends if I am just a little passionate about this topic and they will probably roll their eyes at you.  I am dumbfounded that the world continues to debase one gender over and over again.  What dumbfounds me even more is that some women allow themselves to be debased in such demeaning ways, looking at you Kim K. 

As a Christian this is an issue that I have had to talk about and deal with on very personal levels.  I personally believe that God created people equally and that after reading and studying Hebrew and Greek we misinterpret the roles of men and women in the world.  I do not believe that one gender is meant to rule the other, but that we are to submit to one another in love.  Oh hey that is what the Bible says too!

I have had personal experiences with this type of men are superior to women entailment in my faith, my work, and my personal life.  I go to to the church I go to because they believe God calls men and women both to do his service in the world and does not discriminate based on gender.  I have served in churches and earned a Master's in Bible and I have had people say extremely hurtful things about my inability to lead others, teach, and be an example of Christ because I am a woman.

I have heard the arguments and debated others in my life and if you would like to do that after you read this post please know I am not even going to engage in that. I have broken up with boyfriend because they told me that as a woman I will need to submit to them and their leadership.  I told them when I get married I want to marry my partner and approach life together. That didn't float their boat and we were done. 

The comments that were made in the video range from innocuous to down right cruel. More than anything I am left with questions for myself and for others.

How do I as a woman contribute to a culture that finds it OK to debase women?
What can I do to help overcome this issue in my own life, in my community, and in the nation?
How can men and women work together to respect each other and the gifts and abilities we all have?
How to do my actions or language debase men and how should I talk about others?
 

I do not have my answers articulated yet but I am thinking about it and working towards answers.  I have a feeling these are questions I can ask throughout my life in all types of situation.

I would much rather people speak in kindness and try harder to just be good to everyone.  Yes we need to work on a lot of issues this is not the only one.  This is a simple video from Simple Video from Soul Pancake and Kid President that I would rather have describe our society. 

Not cool Robert Frost! 

I am also probably more thoughtful on the topic of justice and kindness in light of Nelson Mandela's death today.  He is a man I respect immensely.  I have learned much from his example and I am grateful for the example he provided to the world of kindness, leadership, and justice. 

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