No time to smell the roses

I just got flowers delivered to me and I’m giggling like a school girl, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world and wanting to shout off the rooftops what a wonderful man I have in my life and how grateful I am for the male species. Then my attention is drawn to the headline on the paper on my desk and I’m reminded that another life has been lost at the hands of this “wonderful” species. No, I do not hate men and I certainly do not think ‘all men are the same’… I know there are some really good men out there, I can testify. However, it becomes a little difficult to recognise and appreciate them in the wake of what other men are doing.

I would have liked today’s blog post to be a happy, empowering and uplifting one. But how can we be happy when 13 and 17 year olds continue to be battered and continue to lose their lives? How can we claim empowerment when we continue to be silenced by a society that defends patriarchy?

It’s almost impossible to take time to smell the roses when we remember that in that very moment, a young girl could be getting raped. It’s almost impossible to see any good in life when there continues to be bloodshed at the hands of the same people that the same patriarchal system would have us believe are our “protectors”.

It’s hard to celebrate what little progress has been made in the women’s rights battle, when the facts so starkly remind us that it really is little and we have a long way to go yet.