[thechat] women and oppression

[Tara Cleveland]

Erika Meyer wrote:

> You know, I think it's well and good to discuss our relative types of
> oppression as it manifests itself in different countries...

> I know that there are women in various countries who want changes of
> various types.  The changes need to start there, within the country.
> Or not.

I agree Erika. I'm not sure if you were referring to what I had said but I
thought I'd respond anyway.

I think that women's movements around the world can give solidarity to each
other. And I think that it's different than saying "these are my values and
you must follow them" when you support changes being made from within the
country.

But that doesn't preclude me from saying that *I* think that women in Iran
are oppressed. Especially given there are women there who agree, and
especially within the context of an argument that says "we should invade the
country because women there are oppressed". What I was saying was that I
agree that women in that country are oppressed, as they are in many places
in the world. That doesn't mean that we should invade, but a dialogue for
more understanding between our cultures could be beneficial for *both* our
cultures. Opening a dialogue between the people of different cultures is
*not* the same thing as going in and saying "You are doing this, that, and
this wrong.  Here let me show you a better way."

Having said that, *I* think that there are some abhorrent practices - around
the world - including in the US and Canada - that should be stopped (but not
by force) because they violate basic human rights. And that may be a
cultural bias, but I also think that relativistic morality/ethics/whatever
you want to call it can't be infinitely relativistic.

What are your thoughts? I know this has been a very tricky subject within
the women's movement for a long time now. It's definitely an interesting
topic. 

Regards,
Tara