Daughters

Malala Yousufzai is a fourteen year old Pakistani girl fighting for her life in a hospital in England. She was shot in the head and neck last week for speaking up in the face of radicalism. The Taliban has claimed credit. They have also said they will try to kill her again should she recover.

What happened to Malala is brutal and cruel; an affront to people – especially girls – everywhere. The people of Pakistan seem to have had enough as well, as tens of thousands of Pakistani’s have taken to the streets in protest. Muslim clerics are speaking out against this disgusting act of cowardice. The entire world it seems is rooting for Malala. As they should be.

We should be outraged at all manner of things that are perpetrated against our daughters. Not just around the world but here as well. You know the land of the free, home of the brave. We demand that other countries treat their women better. We demand that they be allowed to drive; that they be allowed to dress as they wish; that they be allowed to be educated; that they be allowed to vote; that they be allowed to participate fully in society.

Funny thing though when it comes to American girls, the talk's a little different. It’s OK to pay them less than a man for the same work. It’s OK to subject them to unnecessary and invasive medical procedures; it’s OK to allow them to be fired for purchasing contraception; it’s OK to allow them to die because a doctor decides that they should forego chemotherapy so as not to harm their fetus.

Yeah, kind of all done with that type of support folks.

Guess what? Women are people too. They have real feelings. They have real achievements. They have real goals. They even bleed – a lot. I don’t know why some folks are afraid of the lady parts but honest they don’t bite. Really. Well some might, but I bet you have to pay extra for that.

Our daughters, here and around the world, need our support and encouragement but more than that they need to know that they stand shoulder to shoulder with our sons. That they are equal in every respect. That can’t happen until we – as in all of us – start showing them they matter by taking steps to prove that they matter. That they are vital and important to this country and its growth and prosperity.

Women have overcome all sorts of prejudice and subjugation and it boggles my mind that here in the 21st century, in America we are still adjudicating this nonsense. All while we are wagging our fingers at the rest of the world.

Please. Knock it off. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, “Being a girl is not a handicap; a girl is not the inferior version of a boy.”

We are your sisters and your wives and your mothers.

We deserve – no DEMAND – to control our bodies and our futures.

You can choose to stand with us or you will be forced to stand behind us.

Barbara Mulvey-Welsh is a mother, writer and blogger raising kids and a husband in Plymouth. Check out her blog at "Did I Say That Out Loud?"  Use caution when reading around the family, there is some strong language.