Misguided Notions About Women's Rights
By Jonathan Bluestein

 

One must not confuse Rights with Education and Culture.

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A notable example: Women should always have the right to earn as much men. But for this to be made into a reality, the people must receive a specific education from a young age, and the culture has to change. Protests and lawsuits can affect people's rights, but they cannot strongly shift either culture or education.

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The same is true for violence against women. Protests and lawsuits are decent tools for pursuing justice and raising awareness. But a violent man is not going to be swayed by them, but rather by quality education from a young age, and different dynamics in culture.

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It is unfortunately easier to file a lawsuit or go on the street with a sign, than discussing the inherent flaws of one's culture or debating better schooling. Sadly, were I as a man to carry a sign that says "please do not rob me", it would have been unlikely to change the minds and hearts of would-been robbers, even if I marched with 100,000 people who think and feel the same. Even children seeing this would not necessarily be impressed, unless the message is strongly affirmed by their parents and in their schools.

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Additionally, often it is the case that the best help is self-help. Change in character and the study of self-defense, can do a lot more for women, and quicker, than long-term struggles for changes in education and culture, which make take decades or centuries to take root.

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Einstein famously said, that you cannot solve a problem with the same kind of thinking which created it. Likewise, our current culture and educational modalities created the society whose negative phenomenon we are protesting. These are the things that need to be changed.