Day 6: Women

Men, how do we view women?

At the United Nations today, the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women begins and the focus for the next two weeks will be on the inequalities women face globally.

This isn’t just an “over there” problem.

I was always troubled when I was working in Higher Education when we were reminded that 23% of female college students in the US were survivors of sexual assault in the first six weeks of the school year.

We have to ask, how are we raising men to treat and view women?

The wage gap is another example of how we see women as less than, with the current wage gap at 85%.

Globally, the news is even more disturbing. Women and girls lack access to healthcare, education, among many other human rights.

How do we, as men, respond for equality and justice?

It starts in our home.

Our children watch how we treat our partners and how we treat them. What implicit and explicit messages are we sending that shape their internal and external world view?

It then moves to our schools and communities. What are the lessons being taught that reinforces a belief (perhaps even subconscious) of inequality. How can we hold difference and equality together?

How might we allow this Lenten journey to be one of equality and justice? It starts right in your own homes and around your dinner table.