Gloria Steinem Quotes
During the first suffragist wave in this nation, women were possessions, like a table or a chair. So violence toward them was quite condoned. The attitude has diminished, but it's still there.
Steinem, Gloria. The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!. Random House, 2019.
Many leaders of nations are in denial about this problem which exists almost everywhere. In Israel, the problem is compounded because the very orthodox Jews and Muslims both come from a tradition where women are allocated a place subservient to men in many ways and to some (like some Christians) there is a perceived duty to discipline wives and daughters. So reform involves religious tradition and theology.
In some cultures of the world women are considered to be under the control of or even the property of men. As such they are allowed to “discipline” the women. However there are a few religious fundamentalists in America who believe that God has ordained the man as head of the household and they oppose prohibiting husbands from “chastising” their wives. In some nations, especially in Islamic cultures, families are allowed to even murder a woman relative if she “brings dishonor upon the family. In many cultures, including some in the US, rape is not seen as a felonious assault, but as a natural thing for males to do.
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist journalist and social political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader and a spokeswoman for the American feminist movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
