The answers on Brainstorm Our World were as follows, in order of the conversation:
"I know I need to do better! And I'm working on it. And yes, if we all were decent and kind to each other on an individual level, everyone, on a global scale, then the systematic problems would have a better chance of finding a solution. But it is not that simple because the systemic problems can't help affecting people's daily lives in a negative way. It is very much an us vs them world with nations armed to obliterate each other, and in that fearful atmosphere, the forces of greed tend to prevail. I think we have to look at evey level from individual to city to nation to global simultaneouslyl if we are to resolve the big issues, including gender inequality."
"Good. Agree. How best to juggle the simulanteousness? What do you think is priority #1? Then #2? And so on? Or, is everything a priority and we have to be willing to think big and with complexity? What do you think?"
"(I am also very interested to know how we can decrease fear in our world. Not easy, I know. Any thoughts on that?)"
"One angle on this is the civil rights movement in the US in the 50s and 60s. A big element was the throwing off of fear by the black population. Usually fear has a reason. Other negative responses are hate and deception. I have a feeling that the civil rights movement called up love and spirit as the antidote to fear, hate and deception."
"Still working on this one and I found a good blog on it, written by a friend, David Spero. He suggests meditation, getting out in the world, nature, making friends. http://davidsperorn.com/blog/?p=570"
"'Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hat.: only love can do that.' - Martin Luther King, Jr."
"Also, beautiful (and low-economical-cost!) suggestions by David Spero (considering how expensive conflict/war turns out to be). To add here, this is a free tool anyone can use to meditate anywhere: http://www.stopbreathethink.org."
"Great question, Alexis. Let me tell a tale from the other end of the spectrum just to add perspective. When I met John, he was 83 years old. He had been married 5 times. He "adored" women. But he had absolutely NO idea that we were "people." He wanted to discuss his problems with his daughter and his ex's with me, and at one point I simply said to him (pardon my bluntness), "John, you are never going to understand what went wrong in your relationships until you get past the point of thinking of women as two boobs and a hole." There ARE men out there for whom that is still true . . . . John died last year. i went to see him on the last day, and the last thing he did when I said goodbye was to pat me on the ass. Consistency . . ."
"This made me chuckle, Anne. And then feel exhausted and a little sad. And then made me laugh again because I remembered this question a younger woman once shared with me when I worked at a university. She asked, "Why is it men 'get' to sexualize women's bodies for their pleasure? Who lets them 'get to' do that? And what if women started taking advantage of men who have money? Like, the guy with the flashy car. What if I decided I 'had' to hurt him or drug him to steal his car. I had to because he was showing off his wealth. It's his fault, not mine." Then she added, "Because that's been the storyline for justifying insulting and hurting women for decades and decades." That's actually not funny because it's true. So, then. How do we engage with people as whole beings, not only as the fascinating or desirous bells and whistles? I know this question is huge, but let's talk about it. How do we engage better with one another?"
"I think if some of our "health education" included information about the "insanity" produced by flooding the body with hormones during adolescence, and that the human brain continues to grow throughout those years, that people might take a second look at assuming that their perceptions of the opposite gender - with or without flashy cars - are a temporary view based on the physiology of mating."
"(Of course, much of this has to do with power. Which might be the most tempting thing of all...)"
"Being respectful is what the privileged demand of the oppressed."
"Ouch, right. So, how does real respect function? What do you think it looks like, sounds like, feels like?"
"Isn't Acknowledgement that another also has a mind with a rational component enough? Respect is not always appropriate. Under extreme circumstances it's rational to be disrespectful, to throw out the old rules, hurl hurtful or threatening words, falsely defame people, lie opportunistically, etc. I guess the Republican Party is in an extreme circumstance."
"i believe it will if we ask more people to join us,.."
"People can follow and join here: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/."
