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- Women Should Be Able to Walk the Street Naked
Women Should Be Able to Walk the Street Naked
Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:31 pm by Ambaa Choate
Women Should Be Able to Walk the Street Naked 2015-03-13T22:31:30-04:00 Ambaa Choate
Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.
I’m going to say something really shocking, but bear with me and hear me out, okay?
A woman should be able to walk down the street completely naked and not be raped or even worry that she might be.
I’m not saying that women will want to exercise this freedom or that I think it would be great for there to be naked people all over the place, but the point is that IF, for whatever reason, a woman ended up in public naked, that would have absolutely nothing to do with her sexual availability.
This narrative we have that men cannot control themselves if they become filled with desire for a woman is really insulting to you men! Is that really all it takes for you to turn into animals? I don’t think so.
Look at Arjuna and Urvasi. When Arjuna went looking for weapons in the mountains, a beautiful naked woman holding a lamp that didn’t flicker in the fierce winds walked up to him and tried to seduce him. What does he do? He honors her as a mother. He touches her feet in respect!
Now, she’s an otherworldly creature and she’s upset with him for not wanting to sleep with her and curses him, but I still think he did absolutely the right thing. Besides, that curse comes in handy during the 13th year of exile.
Men, the vast majority of you know that it is your job to protect and care for women. Most of you understand that rape is not something women “ask for,” it is something that men choose to do and in doing so violate dharma.
Women having freedom and equality means that we can choose how much we cover or uncover. No government should mandate modesty in dressing. No government should force women to cover themselves completely up and no government should force women to uncover themselves.
As women, we make our own choices. If we want to be covered up, if that is what makes us comfortable or happy, then we can do that. If we want to be uncovered, we can do that too.
What a woman wears has to do with her own life, convictions, decisions, and what she likes and wants to wear. None of those choices have anything to do with whether she deserves to have her body violated by someone else.
Those who love and respect women know that a woman in public completely naked is not a target to be raped, but an expression of the Goddess, as are all women.
Do not make women’s choices for them. Respect and honor that they know what is best for them and are just as capable as men at knowing what is best for their life.
I’m pointing out an extreme because the “she was dressed to ask for it” is a ridiculous argument. Women show an elbow and they are told they are asking to be violated. No, she’s wearing what makes sense to her to wear. She should not ever have to consider whether it will tempt a man into attacking her.
A great anaology I heard once was that of a store front. If the owner puts up a nice display to make all his wares look good, is he asking to be robbed? Of course not. A girl dresses up for different reasons. Maybe to feel good about herself, maybe to look attractive to potential mates, maybe to fit the theme of a party, but none of those reasons give anyone permission to hurt her.
I don’t have any desire to walk down the street naked, but if I did I would expect that all my lovely readers here would be the kind of people to not attack me or rape me. And if they saw someone trying to hurt me, they would intervene.
***
Some great further reading is this sarcastic piece from a guy named Micah J. Murray:
“Although men dress ourselves based on comfort, taste, and social appropriateness, it’s selfish of you to do the same….Please, don’t expect us to see you as fellow human beings with thoughts and feelings and value and dignity.”
http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/04/30/what-i-wish-women-knew-about-men/
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