it's difficult to live here, especially when family enforces gender-based restrictions and the same goes for potential partners. in education and career too, discrimination is faced by every woman. and we've also most of us suffered sexual harassment and abuse. i've found liberal arts universities to be safe spaces for the most part, so it's been a lot better for me once i went to college. but my other friends, in engineering for example, continue to suffer through college as well.
so recently there was a horrible rape case that was mishandled by the police. and my friend was like 'let's leave this country' lmaoo and i was like 'and go where?' she said 'finland'
and it's true that there's a higher degree of gender parity and human development in scandinavian countries than anywhere else in the developed world. but like, i had classmates who went to study in the UK for example and HATED the weather, like it actually affects your mental state. (i think this is true of people who've lived there all their lives, too, not just those who go from tropical countries to dreary cold places; i've heard of seasonal depression and winter depression. the weather really does have that big of an affect.)
anyway, i told my friend 'finland doesn't have any sun for six months of the year or so i heard. you won't be able to handle it.' apparently her mom told her the same thing
aside from which, things are worse from women in other parts of the world. like i read about women staking their very lives trying to migrate to the US from Honduras. and in Honduras, not just abortion, but CONTRACEPTION is illegal, even in the case of rape and incest. so eleven year old girls who survive rape die in childbirth. and that's just one aspect of how women's very lives are devalued, so that they'd rather die trying to illegally get into another country than stay on in their own country.
and then i'm like, they need to get out of their country more badly than we need to get out of ours. abortion is legal here, although marital rape is also legal
but still. perspective. i can actually seek out more safe spaces like my university and try to navigate my life through those. i have the education and the opportunities; i've got privilege. we can't all go sit in finland. it's not just a matter of, we may not get in even if we try, but like- other people need it more. they need it desperately. they may not get in either, but i don't want to take that chance away from them. cause i know migration will let in those who are skilled to contribute to society more, over the ones who need it most.
i'd like to believe things will improve in my home country, but examples like Japan and South Korea show that general development does NOT automatically lead to gender development. they stay the same old regressive sexist bastards while everything else gets modernised. and social change is not only slow but sometimes it's a step back instead of a step forward
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