Fear and Indifference Reinforce Oppression and Individual Courage Essay

Fear and Indifference Reinforce Oppression and Individual Courage - Essay Example Fear and indifference reinforce oppression that creates social inequality; ending it starts with firm individual convictions that begin like a flame before burning across the society it wants to change. When people fear to protect the oppressed or to fight because they are oppressed, they are reinforcing oppression through silently allowing it to continue in their society. Wendell Steavenson interviewed women who both represent or vilify women rights. Hend Badawi participated in the Tahrir Square to depose Mubarak and his repressive regime. Though she is a good example of a person who fights for her rights, her conservative family punished her for her activism. Steavenson quoted Mona Eltahawy, a feminist writer, who said: â€Å"The regime oppresses everyone, but society represses only women†. Society oppresses women, not only by participating on socially stigmatizing and physically and emotionally hurting women who fight for their rights but also by remaining silent on their p leas. Silence can be accompanied with fear, like those who no longer pressed charges against the police for physically and sexually harassing them through public virginity tests. By not talking about their fears and fighting their oppressors, they are strengthening the resolve of their oppressors to treat them as second-class citizens. Alex Ross talks about another gender issue, this time, the fight for gays’ demand for equal rights and freedoms. Gays in the 80s were afraid to come out because of discrimination and violence against them.