Letter of the Day | Women are tired of being disrespected by men

An open letter to the males in this nation

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Females of this nation are overwhelmed and tired of the day-to-day treatment meted out to us in homes, the streets, businesses, workplaces, schools, etc., by large percentages of males in our midst. One is left to wonder: do our men love and care for the women?

We are equal human beings, but that is hardly demonstrated in this nation. Women are not without faults but today I speak of the ills regarding the behaviour of our men.

We are tired of being verbally disrespected when going about our daily business, be it a dirty sexist statement, an insult (by the stranger) or nasty propositions. Even to those of us properly attired.

We very much resent the fact that we are touched, grabbed, and have our bags pulled by loader-men when going about our business.

This, to us, is a form of sexual harassment and disregard for us females. How fast can we figure out if it is a thief grabbing our bags or that it is the loader-man’s disrespect?

We are tired of the killings of women and children in this nation, which carries a nine-day conversation then nothing. We are begging for national security protection from these predators, as we are all at their mercy.

We are sick of hearing “lady, walk fast nuh” or “step around”. After all, we females pay taxes in the nation and deserve to walk, drive, and be out and about without being abused. We resent the disabled being treated like naught or an afterthought while moving among us. They, too, have basic human rights, something that is disappearing from this nation.

We resent men coming up to us in the banks, supermarkets, restaurants, etc., begging a bly, because they refuse to join a line and wait. Usually a female is targeted to ask, and not another male.

FED UP

We are fed up as men push blame to single mothers for criminal offspring who are now menaces to our society, while MIA sperm donors seem to have no accountability. We resent young ladies who choose an education over getting with a man or having a baby at an early age being labelled in derogatory terms or as a mule by some, especially men.

We are fed up, fed up, fed up with negative conversations from male groups across all socio-economic levels of this nation, and are hurt that many have their heads in the sand, refusing to see that misogynistic behaviour has taken over and is within some of them.

The dichotomy between our masses and classes will come full circle in the near future; what will then happen? No doubt this nation has produced some loving, decent, kind-hearted, real males, but they are SO few, they get lost in the swamp.

Help, help, help! Jamaican women are tired of the present state of things.

JOAN WILLIAMS

joalive@hotmail.com