Women, Stop Trying to be Men
By: Catalina Lora 10ºB
On March the 8th ,Women's Day was celebrated all around the world. There were strikes led by women who expressed their disagreement regarding the violation of their rights and gender discrimination. Although these demonstrations were legitimate and even necessary, some of them got out of control and led to violence and vandalism.
In the case of our country Colombia, these protests got out of control and ended in the vandalization of monuments, bus stations, buses, shops, among others. In addition, they assaulted policemen and journalists. When asked about the reason for these violent actions, they responded that this was how men protested; therefore, they should do so too. Others said that it is the only way to get justice and stop violence against women. Regarding this, the mayor Claudia López, spoke out and said that this is not the way to revindicate the cause, nor does it honor the commitment for the lives of the women marching.
It is important to say that I do not justify violence for anything in the world, and less when you are fighting against it. The violence committed by the women invalidated their arguments instead of strengthening them; because it is incoherent to demolish violence through more violence. In fact, violence always leads to more of it. What should be done is to cut this chain of violence. On the other hand, aggression is not the only way to ensure that a person's rights are respected; especially when someone else's rights are being violated through the vandalism. However, it is important to emphasize that not all women were violent. There were about 200 women who provoked the chaos. Therefore, it must be said that many were peaceful. Peaceful strikes set an example for girls and young people, because they demonstrate that the role of women in society can be vindicated without violence.
Finally, I want to make a little reflection about how us women are fighting in order to stop gender inequality. I think that to promote equality is very important, and I am a defender of women rights; however, we have to be conscious of the things we are doing to achieve this. The result does not justify the methods, so we can’t exploit others' rights to obtain ours. Also, I think that women do not have to be equal to men. By this I mean that, we do not have to cut our hair, or wear pants to be at the same level as them. Women should be proud of being women. We should be respected for being women and not because we look like a man. There is no need to become men to stop violence against women. For future protests we need to be proud of what identifies us as women and make that our strength.