Women’s movements all over the world have taken a safer, faster approach to promote gender equality. What does it take? The answer is one click away.
Sometimes, promoting feminism in conservative parts of the world is life threatening. Blogging, however, has inspired many women to connect internationally and transform local causes into international movements.
Feminism is not only about rejecting the objectification of women; it goes beyond that to support women’s equality. Blogs have allowed for opportunities that lead to realization that feminism is the adaptation of traditions, which have been perpetuated throughout the centuries, to the quick pace of today’s world.
Blogging, as a window, has allowed a dimming light to pass through, a symbol of hope for freedom and equality, but most of all, a symbol of respect. Many blogs around the world have become so important that they are now featured in popular magazines like People.
“Mukhtar Mai was gang raped and led naked down dusty streets in Pakistan.” What was the reason for such a violent act? Mai’s brother held hands with a girl that belonged to a higher caste. The story was featured as an ad in the December 2010 edition of People Magazine. The ad, which includes Mai’s pictures, supports and promotes the Web site http://www.vitalvoices.org/. This Web site is one of the key tools used by the Vital Voices Global Partnership to highlight women’s vulnerability to justice systems around the world.
Vital Voices Global Partnership allows women all over the world to promote causes that defend women’s rights by offering an open blog. The blog includes initiatives that empower women not only emotionally but economically.
The importance of http://wordpress.com/as an opportunity to promote initiatives has grown exponentially as more and more people realize not only the importance but the power of blogs. After digging through many blogs, one that stood out was http://katehardy.wordpress.com/. The blog features stories and statistics about women’s exploitation around the world and offers an analysis of the human trafficking industry.
Arrest, domestic violence, dowry death, feminists and women’s rights are the prevalent tags found at http://uchalla.wordpress.com/, a blog that offer deep analysis of India, its culture and the position of women in society. The author of the blog is not identifiable; this shows one advantage of blogs. They offer anonymity to protect not only one’s life but also one’s ideas. After all, everybody dies, but once his or her ideas are out on the web, they survive forever.
People around the world may consider India a conservative nation, so what can make a blog about it so interesting? Probably the realization that the “mere knowledge that the modesty of a woman is likely to be outraged is sufficient to constitute the offence without any deliberate intention of outraging her modesty,” as it is stated by the author of the blog. The quote can be interpreted by each individual, but it is powerful enough to offer a perspective about one’s feeling of helplessness within a specific society.
Once again, feminist blogs can be highly misinterpreted, but they offer a view of women’s feelings about their position in society. They go beyond what is considered right and wrong for women to say; blogs represent a new opportunity to promote women’s rights and support their causes all over the world. Blogs are confronting tradition with freedom — the freedom to express one’s sentiments, an opportunity to communicate oppressed feelings, a yet bigger, and more peaceful and powerful movement to be recognized.