'Because I am a Girl'

EvilPundit · 2013-02-14T20:50:50+00:00

There is a big, co-ordinated feminist push to redirect aid fro the general population to women in particular.

It's supported by propaganda claims such as "women do 66% of the work but only own 1% of the property" and "women redirect all of their money to their children and the community, while men only pass on 40%".

After the earthquake in Haiti, some organisations refused to give food to men, and would only feed women.

This has been a stealthy phenomenon whereby so-called "aid organisations" are deliberately boosting women and depriving men.

super_swede · 2013-02-14T20:25:18+00:00

I don't see anything wrong with this.

For me, the MRM is about equality and in a lot of places where your money would go, there's very little equality and being born a girl is a "handicap".

You have to see things for what they are, affirmative action to let girls n ahead of boys at western universities is a bad thing, building all girls schools in a place where girls otherwise would be denied equal opportunities to basic education is a good thing.

torrentfox · 2013-02-14T20:47:15+00:00

Read their page on FGM. Take note of the perspective from which it is written, and the citations.

Surprise, surprise! It's the World Health Organization! The very same one which promotes circumcision of male children in those very same countries!

Some gems:

Ahlam is a living example of girls who have been coerced into the practice and live regretting why they had to undergo a process that has not only lowered her personal esteem, notwithstanding the fact that it also denied her the opportunity to exercise her right to choose whether she needed the surgery or not.

...

Great efforts have been made to counter FGM through work within communities and change in public policy. Progress both at the international and local levels have been recognised resulting to a decrease in the prevalence and an increase in community participation and support towards ending the practice.

And then

Research also shows that, if practising communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly.

From the WHO's information page:

Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.

FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.

...

FGM has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies.

You see what they're doing, right?

Beltox · 2013-02-14T20:11:28+00:00

Could it be something to do with physical differences pertaining to survivability in 3rd world areas?

yoinkmasta107 · 2013-02-14T19:43:26+00:00

http://plan-international.org/girls/why-girls.php?lang=en#ad-image-0

Super_Duper_Mann · 2013-02-14T21:08:38+00:00

The MRM movement, as it pertains to this subreddit and the publications that it links to, is rather ethnocentric. Major issues include circumcision, legal custody battles, male imprisonment rate, gender norm deconstruction, and the lack of aid for male survivors of violence. These goals are legitimate and noble, but they are all focused on a population that is largely white, above the poverty line, and western.

Look at the nations in which Plan International works. In many of these countries girls are married off as children. They are not allowed to go to school, manage money, or own a business. They are not allowed leadership roles in their communities. It is considered shameful in some societies for a husband to take orders from his wife (or wives.) Physical violence is often seen as a way for a man to maintain control and discipline of his household. Women who have sex, forcibly or otherwise, before marriage, are considered "shamed" or "impure" and are shunned from their families and communities. Rape is used as a "corrective" method against homosexuality and bad behavior. They are kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery to serve the desires of militia groups.

Now, men and boys face many challenges in these nations as well. Boys experience physical violence at similar and sometimes greater rates as children (the gap widens as the children age). Boys are kidnapped and forced to fight in wars. Young men often have no choice but to fight. Men face heavy pressure to the the leader of the house and winner of the bread - failure to do so is considered shameful. Men can face high suceptability to HIV/AIDS. Homosexual men are often killed for their sexuality.

Now, the point isn't that women or men suffer more or worse. It's not the Oppression Olympics. These issues require different interventions at different levels and sectors of society and in different ways. Many factors must be taken into account. Politics of the village, district, and the country. Religion. Social and cultural norms. Who enforces those norms.

If you look at the issues that I've briefly outlined faced by girls, you'll notice a common factor - they face these issues for one primary reason: because they are female. The issues that men face stem from a variety of factors; the political/military state of the country, the economy, the state of accessible medical supplies, and more. Some are very directly related to their gender/sex. But the problems of young girls, by and large, face them because they are female. That's the direction that the campaign is aiming to take; educating these community leaders that women are not inferior simply because they are women. That girls deserve an education, deserve a chance to lead, deserve a chance to run a business, and deserve a right to be physically safe.

The campaign, in no way, says that the difficulties of men and boys are nonexistent, illegitimate, or inferior. However, those issues require a different response. There are hundreds of thousands of factors that must be taken into account when designing international relief programmes. It's not like 5 feminists sat down one evening over red wine and and the most recent Jezebel article and said "lets put together a little campaign that helps girls and not boys!" Many of the people at Plan have lived in the countries in which they work. They've studied international relations and public health for years. The "Because I'm a Girl" campaign is extensive and comprehensive.

I think it would be really great if folks at this subreddit could quit moaning about every campaign that deals with women. Either get your shit together and start a movement that actually addresses the 100% legitimate problems that men face, or help support actual, comprehensive, extensive plans that already exist. Like this one about promoting fatherhood in many of these same countries.

themountaingoat · 2013-02-14T22:53:57+00:00

In other countries, especially the poorer and more religious regions, there really is systemic discrimination against females, meaning they would need a disproportionate amount of help. And I'm okay with that. Of course that policy would reek of double standards if applied in the U.S., because women get more aid even in areas where men are more disadvantaged.

tl;dr Help people who need help. If the majority who need help are female, so be it. But don't forget about helping the minority as well.

2013-02-14T21:13:19+00:00

correct me if i'm wrong but i believe in some cultures or regions only males can receive an education, but it that slogan does give me the "you should only help the girls of this culture." kinda vibe, but I have a feeling a lot of kids (male and female) in these kinda places need help and they should work on there advertising to make sure it includes both genders.

MRAMoment · 2013-02-14T23:30:55+00:00

I remember seeing the pink and black "because I am a girl" signs on buses and public transit in my city. Those particular ones are no longer in use, however one little statistic they had was something to the effect of, "X number of children in Y country go without education, AND 50% OF THEM ARE GIRLS!"

Now, I'm not a biologist, but I would think that the numbers of boys and girls should be around 50/50.

So, what they're saying with that statistic was, "X children are going without education. We only want to help half of them based on their genitalia."

I wonder if that's the reason I no longer see those signs. Someone realized they messed up their propaganda.

If anyone can find a picture of it online I would like to see it again, just to be sure I'm not conjuring facts. I remember noticing it, I just hope I'm remembering correctly.

circuitology · 2013-02-15T14:45:07+00:00

I thought it would be interesting to point out a few more things on this supposedly gender-neutral website...

Not to mention they only care about female genital mutilation. The link is right there.

rightsbot · 2013-02-14T19:38:17+00:00

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clone1205 · 2013-02-15T05:06:18+00:00

There is also this www.girleffect.org/why-girls/

Greyfeld · 2013-02-14T22:18:45+00:00

The Wooly Bumblebee actually had a snit over this organization recently, and talked about it in one of her videos. I don't know what the actual practices of the organization are (and I'm also not very versed in foreign laws and gender roles/practices), but she was pretty upset over the idea of an organization purely for the benefit of girls.

I kinda wish I could get GirlWritesWhat to chime in here, as she's far more knowledgeable about this sort of stuff than I am.

2013-02-15T03:50:04+00:00

It is surprising considering boys can plow fields and do hard work.

Maxfunky · 2013-02-15T01:37:44+00:00

There are still plenty of places around the world where women are treated like property. Girls in many countries don't have access to Public education, while the boys do. It's not really unfair to have charitable efforts dedicated towards helping girls if its merely to help them have the same standard of living that their brothers in the same country already enjoy.

silverionmox · 2013-02-15T11:25:27+00:00

It might be that in some places girls are disenfranchised from acces to education. It's justified to spend the money in a way that make that more balanced, but I don't see any reason why that is something you have to campaign with.

iffy9096 · 2013-02-15T14:08:57+00:00

Here is "why girls?" answered. I lol'd.

DavidByron · 2013-02-15T18:03:58+00:00

Yeah those aid organisation have for the most part been thoroughly taken over by feminism and its anti-male hatred. The little girls stuff is not a big deal; it gets nastier further in.

FlemSmack · 2013-02-15T06:34:52+00:00

The comments on this page are upsetting. I thought it was common knowledge around here that women through out history were not systematically oppressed. That both men and women have had their roles in order to make society run smoothly. If you believe that the ways different societies were ran in the past was not oppressive to women, but you believe that non-westernized counties are now oppressing women and that women and girls need special help you are contradicting yourself.

Title	'Because I am a Girl'
Author	anarchists_R_vermin
Upvotes	46
Comments	67
Date	February 14, 2013 7:37 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/18j6r8/because-i-am-a-girl/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/because-i-am-a-girl.1606289 https://theredarchive.com/post/1606289

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