David Radcliff

The other day in class, David Radcliff was able to come and talk about what he does. I was really glad that he came in to talk because I wasn't able to attend his presentation on campus earlier. What he does seems really interesting, and he experiences so much. Being able to travel, and see how people live, and from that try and help make women more equal, for example. He seems to run into many situations where the wife in a marriage gets beaten by her husband. He gave us the example of this Guatemalan woman that he met. She told him that she would have left her husband a thousand times if she could, but will not because her children. And to her, her children are more important, so she puts up with her abusive, cheating, and alcoholic husband. I couldn't imagine being in a situation like that, but it just makes me thankful for the place I live in, and that much more admiration for women who have been put in these situations, and are able to still see what is important, and not get discouraged. One of the groups Radcliff pays more attention to are the women, and this gets more and more interesting to me the more we talk about woman, and their equality. Many places woman are treated with no respect, or inferior to men. In many countries, girls are sent to the sex trade because of the family's economic shape. It is a horrible experience for the daughter because, they are put through the trade, and then when or if they finally are able to get out of the trade, they are scarred, and will not have "normal" lives. In one place, a company or organization is willing to give a family a piglet, if they don't sell their daughter into the sex trade, because when that piglet grows up, it will be worth the same amount as if they family gave up their daughter to the sex trade. And this way, the daughter is sparred from all the horrors of the trade that they would have to face. Two things that Radcliff said really stuck with me, because they were so powerful, and nothing like society here in the United States, especially where I live. One of the sayings was - "to be born a daughter is a lost life" To me that is such a hurtful, unfair sentence to women, or girls. It's almost as if the better thing to do, was if you can figure out what gender it is at a certain time, why not have an abortion, so those parents won't be disappointed. I know that is a little too far, but I feel that's how those people feel. I am sure they will care for their daughter, but at the same time, I am sure that daughter's life will not be great especially when certain situations come around where a son would have been better suited for the job. The second is who is the "boss" throughout the woman's lifetime. First her boss is her father, then when she gets married, she must listen to her husband, and then once her soon becomes of age, around the teens, she must listen to her son. Can one imagine how you can never think or act on your own, because you will always have a boss making those choices for you. I couldn't imagine it, and am glad that I don't live in Nepal, but am curious about how the women themselves feel there. I am sure just because our cultures are so different, that they aren't as upset about it as I would be, but I wonder if they just accept it because that is how it is, or if they like it.