Do you find it hard to speak to women respectfully in 2020? Are you unsure of how to regard women as normal human beings worthy of basic respect and dignity? Here’s a short step by step guide just for you!
The way the hosts of OKLETSGO podcast speaks about women is wrong. Period.
There is no excuse for making lewd observations about a woman’s breasts, publicly musing your sexual fantasies for complete strangers or referring to women as “fresh” or “stale” meat. Women are more than sexual objects. Women are complex, messy, brilliant people who think and care about issues deeply, have their own fears and desires, and have raised an entire community.
But the problem is bigger than what grown men are saying on a podcast – it’s the fact that tens of thousands of people listen to the podcast and many don’t see anything wrong with what is said or are prepared to let constant misogyny slide for the sake of entertainment. It’s the fact that many are still falling over themselves to justify degrading, humiliating descriptions of women, and that we are allowing such behaviour towards women in our homes, amongst friends and wider communities.
Misogyny is not harmless, but normalises a culture of continued dehumanisation and violence against women. Women have to work harder in order to succeed in a world that that still diminishes, underestimates, and disrespects them. In the Covid-19 period, domestic abuse alone has risen by 40%.
We’ve got a problem. And fixing it will take more than outrage over one incident. This incident is merely a symptom of a wider problem of gender discrimination and violence. It’s going to take courage from all of us to take hard look at ourselves, our systems, policies, workplaces, communities, and make a real commitment to changing.
As always, we’ll be working to uplift and centre the voices of women in a way that is respectful. Beyond that, we’re also going to do more to give this community the tools and resources needed to have these difficult discussions.
We’re hopeful that addressing difficult questions and taboo topics can be done in a way that dismantles, not perpetuates or normalises, existing oppressive systems. #okletsrespect
Beyond The Hijab 