It’s no doubt that what happened to the women in Cleveland who were held captive for ten years by their kidnappers is a tragic incident. But to add to what happened to these women there are larger conversations that should come out of this tragedy; there should be discussions about how women are viewed around the world and even a conversation revolving around the idea of marriage.
There were three men who decided to abduct three women; could it be these men took it upon themselves, in their deranged minds, ‘to wife’ these women? Three men for three women?
As scary as it sounds we have to remember that in many societies women are seen as nothing more than adjuncts to men—even for some here in the U.S. It’s something we’re taught from the time we’re able to understand gender roles at an early age and for a lot of folks it’s something that was never unlearned. Even in the institution of marriage historically women were chosen as property to men and that notion continues in its most absurd form in many parts of the world.
Is that what happened in Cleveland? Were there three brothers out to ‘fetch’ three wives? If we find that was the motive of these men then we have to ask ourselves isn’t it time (again) that we revisit the conditions of women in the world and yes, even the institution of marriage? They are questions that shouldn’t wait to be discussed once a tragedy grabs media attention because there are many tragedies affecting women around the world and in the least, unfortunate circumstances that lead to relationships in which both men and women act out roles that they haven’t yet unlearned that in many instances mirror what happened in Cleveland, even if in ways less pernicious than the event in Cleveland. The discussions should never cease.
The plight these women had to endure was horrible and it becomes another emblem of the ideas some men (and even some women) have of women, and yes, even of the notion of marriage.
There were three men who decided to abduct three women; could it be these men took it upon themselves, in their deranged minds, ‘to wife’ these women? Three men for three women?
As scary as it sounds we have to remember that in many societies women are seen as nothing more than adjuncts to men—even for some here in the U.S. It’s something we’re taught from the time we’re able to understand gender roles at an early age and for a lot of folks it’s something that was never unlearned. Even in the institution of marriage historically women were chosen as property to men and that notion continues in its most absurd form in many parts of the world.
Is that what happened in Cleveland? Were there three brothers out to ‘fetch’ three wives? If we find that was the motive of these men then we have to ask ourselves isn’t it time (again) that we revisit the conditions of women in the world and yes, even the institution of marriage? They are questions that shouldn’t wait to be discussed once a tragedy grabs media attention because there are many tragedies affecting women around the world and in the least, unfortunate circumstances that lead to relationships in which both men and women act out roles that they haven’t yet unlearned that in many instances mirror what happened in Cleveland, even if in ways less pernicious than the event in Cleveland. The discussions should never cease.
The plight these women had to endure was horrible and it becomes another emblem of the ideas some men (and even some women) have of women, and yes, even of the notion of marriage.
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