Kwesi B. Delgado Submitted To: Prof.

Julius Tutor

2-K L-150281

Respect

Introduction:

In this day and age of computer gadgets, technology and most prominent the internet, allows
information to be freely and easily accessed by almost anyone. Information is really important,
almost any process requires gathering of information research as others call it, however this
information has turned the new generation aware not only of the developments but also to issues
of our world, and one of them are Womens Rights.

As a Law student I find this topic conflicting, in the sense that as a man I find the law quite harsh
and strict in favor of women, and still maybe considered ineffective since the whole point of
having this law is to solve or rather prevent abuses yet we still have. Nevertheless I was asked to
look into the issue not only in the legal point of view but rather as a whole, a reflective insight of
the issues regarding discrimination against women.

Reflection

It is undeniable that during the early years of this country, women were not entitled to the same
rights and privileges as men. Women were not allowed to vote and were usually required to
surrender control of their property to their husband upon marriage. Moreover, their educational
and occupational opportunities were severely limited. It was commonly believed that a woman's
place was in the home, raising children and tending to domestic affairs. As discussed by
Professor Africa most civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology, such as the biblical
portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world and the Idea of the Supreme Being is
a man. Basically what Professor Africa was pointing out that discrimination is rooted from the
biased and patriarchal ideology imbedded in most religions, literary works, traditions and
customs. Various Cultures has imprinted the idea that women and man have specific roles to play
in every aspect of life, that it is evident that lack of gender equality is still a concern. Reiterating
our 1st speakers closing remarks That women play a significant role in peace building, and that
is to bring the capacity to love beyond fear, and that we need to become listeners and not just
opinions, ideas or criticism alone regarding gender equality.

I find her discussion very compelling and overall I agree with what she discussed there are
factual truths and undeniable history of discrimination against women. However there are some
points that I strongly disagree, For example the biblical story of Eve, I could not imagine a story
where the setting is that there is one God one evil snake one man and one woman and they find it
patriarchal, first the validity of the truth is not yet proven and still speculative, second the whole
point is to teach a lesson derived from the whole story not just from a single aspect, third yes it is
true that it could have been Adam but logically speaking it can still be eve or anybody if there
was any sad to say the setting does not permit so its either one or the other, in fact it was
actually the snake who caused it and the bottom line of the story both of them are punished
because both of them sinned both of them ate and both of them gave in to their desires. Logically
speaking the issue of who cause who or what is irrelevant the results were the same, the problem
comes with the interpretation not the message. It is however undeniable that discrimination is so
deeply rooted that it still exists today and I agree with Prof. Africa.

Our second speaker Ms. Aldea, made strong points on the existence of a barrier in this world that
prevents women to live their life and that women are just living a life with an impossible dream
because of inequality. She revolved her discussion on the current situation of the so-called
gender equality citing various incidents and even an alleged recent case of rape.

With all due respect I find some of her points valid and facts to be true, but generally I find her
statements and claims to be flawed and emotionally biased. First regarding the clip she showed
depicting an exaggeration of woman in her married life, I dont say that abuse does not happen
but it can happen to anyone the clip shows a setting in a western industrial period but she have
forgotten to point out that in that period its not just women who are marginalized in fact the
whole poor or labor sector were marginalized. Men working with even greater risk of death
safety protocols and features were not present before because capitalist during that time wanted
to make money and sacrificed the workers safety, and that is why we have labor laws today
because the law seeks to protect abuses against laborers. The argument about wages is also
flawed, whether we like it or not there are biological differences with men and women and due to
this fact there are jobs which requires men or women respectively it just so happen that man
since time immemorial took on the riskier and dangerous jobs plus the fact they have less reasons
to have the day off unlike women during pregnancy, thus men get paid more. I find it absurd
when radical feminist claims that biological differences are not an issue with regards to wages, in
job opportunities, or any other gain but when the issue is physical abuse they play the role of
fragile and emotional women who needs protection, I am not saying they dont need protection
but not because they are women but because violence or abuse is a crime and anyone who is
subjected to such acts may it be a man or a women deserves protection.

One of the notable things I recall about the 2 nd speakers talk was the case of rape about a girl that
she complains to be an injustice overall since the accused was able to be pay bail and be free
alleging that there were conspiracy with the fiscal and that the father of the victim was paid
500kPHP etc. Here I find it sad of course there is grave injustice that is true morally even legally
speaking there is injustice with the case she mentioned, but legally speaking if the victim who is
the only and the indispensable witness to the case have desisted to the case the prosecutor has no
other option technically he can pursue being the representation of the state but practically if you
dont have evidence how can you prosecute so if there was no probable cause since the victim
desisted to probably file a statement what option can he do plus the fact that the granting of bail
is not up to him. I find no abuse of discretion or injustice on the part of the fiscal, the real
question is what does justice mean to this victims? Is the conviction and incarceration of the
accused or the convenience perhaps for the aggrieved party? The thing is justice is a man made
construct, words are manmade construct, and to me the only definition of a word and in this case
justice is dictated by the circumstances, the facts, the situation, and the people involved in a
certain case. We should understand that maybe it is true that if a victim was from a rich family
they would afford trial and justice based on morality afforded to the aggrieved family, while a
victim from a poor family might like in the case at bar finds justice in the alleviation of their
everyday hardship in life, True this can be considered morally wrong however it can also be
considered practically correct.

Conclusion:

We must understand contrary to Ms. Aldea we all have choices, although not all countries in the
world but in our country in this generation women are empowered they can make choices in their
life, in their work, It is true that media and our culture itself affect and restricts behaviors of
women but let us not forget they also impose a heavy burden of unrealistic expectations on men
as well. Both men and women can be the subject of abuse, by now people should know that this
tendencies exist not just by the sole reason of mere gender but rather the result of various
influences, there were cases where an abusive husband happens to be so because during child
they were overly dominated or physically and mentally traumatized by their own mother so
clearly the root cause can also be traced from women not just men. With regards to law discussed
in our class by Prof. Tutor the problem with laws is that most people dont understand it or not
even aware of it and both victim and the possible perpetrators fell prey to this ignorance and thus
they either commit or get subjected to. The issue is not discrimination but the mind set of people
In the documentary of the Delhi rape in India it showed how morbid and distorted peoples idea
can be. Thus this brings me to the conclusion that there can never be complete equality similar to
the fact that there can be no complete freedom for it is anarchy. Equality is not the solution it is
an illusion people make, the only solution I believe is RESPECT because equality is subjective
to the needs to the demands even to ideas of each individual. Respect on the other hand has
bridged people of different culture, beliefs and understanding it is the only and constant principle
taught by religions and even principles one example is Buddhism one of the core values is
respect, Christian and Islamic countries have different concepts of punishments for the later an
eye for an eye while the former believes in reform and forgiveness but both conceives the notion
of respect to other peoples rights. This tells us that in order to solve the issue of discrimination
among people not just women we must inculcate in our culture and in our minds the importance
of respect that it must be given, not just based on our discretion deciding who deserves it and
who is does not. We must recognize it as a matter of life principle.