Virtual Burkas and the American love affair.

In case you missed it, this week The National Republican Congressional Committee(NRCC) suggested that General Stanley McChrystal should put Nancy Pelosi "in her place". There obviously was outrage at the statement's insensitivity and use of phrases that have a negative connotation against women's rights. That's all well and good, but it's window dressing and utter bullshit.

Women in this country are not openly oppressed in the verbal sense as often as they were in the past, but they are still oppressed in many ways that are off the radar as far as the general populace is concerned, but far more nefarious than name calling. Let's call them out, shall we?

1. Salary differences. As recently as 2007 salary differences between men and women GREW. Now, you won't hear this often in the media as it's more sexy to report about a redneck who got his dick caught in a Chinese finger prison, went to the hospital to get it removed and accidentally performed successful open heart surgery on conjoined midgets. You would think that the gap would close in an "enlightened" society like ours, but that's not the case. Does this mean women are less productive? Nope. Women are as or more productive than men in most cases. So why is it?

In my opinion, it's simple. Woman are worth less in the work place due to adherence to social dogma. Whether or not you choose to believe it, men have been writing about their dominion over women for a very long time. They have been treating women as if they were possessions or worse, objects. In the workplace, women are perceived as weak, less productive and poor employees, even before they step in the door.

2. Violence. Did you know that more than 600 women every day are raped? That estimate may be pretty low, as many cases are not reported. Did you know that over a thousand women are killed every year by a partner? Did you know that more that 4 million women suffer physical abuse? I don't have anything witty to say here as the stats speak for themselves. Fear is a strong motivator.

How can we solve this? I have no idea. I had the pleasure of growing up in families where the matriarch was the strong one. Even so, one of my grandmothers was abused. She ran the family and made sure everyone had the best she could provide, yet still she was subject to violence. Even though I saw this on occasion, I saw that she was the driving force in the family. I had nothing but respect for her. I may have been a dick to her on occasion, but I am a dick to everyone, on occasion. I loved her fiercely and now that she's gone, the hole she's left is massive. I would never lay a hand on a woman. I despise people that do. That being said, I don't know what kind of a change it would take to stop this.

and finally, image. I used to do a bit where I talked about going to 7-11 and looking at the magazine rack. On the men's magazines, there would be a picture of a woman in a bikini, with a vaguely suggestive title next to her. On the women's magazines, there were pictures of impossibly fit women as well. The articles were all self help articles about looks. My idea was to create a women's magazine that dispensed with the fake idea that it was there to help and call it "Shame on you, you fat bitch". It would have articles like "Why you will never look like the women in this magazine" and "If you lose enough weight, you will look like a female impersonator".

Now, people thought that joke was sexist, but they missed the point. These magazines promote images to women that they will NEVER be able to achieve. Not because of any lack of want, but due to a simple thing called genetics. We are not all built to be perfect. We are built the way we are, but the fashion industry and media continue to shame women into feeling that they are deficient somehow. Folks, we have pre-teens with bulimia. Anorexic children. We allow this constant bashing of women under the guise of fashion. The recent photoshopping of the Filippa Hamilton for instance. Her cover for Ralph Lauren was retouched because she was too fat. She is...................................

5'10", 120 lbs and wears a size 4. WHAT A HEIFER???

People are listening to deranged idiots who are consumed by appearances. They are interested in propping up an ideal that doesn't exist. Impressionable KIDS are being taught that they are abnormal. The facts are, the models are the freaks, not the kids. We need to start burning this crap and teaching future generations to eschew listening to idiots and be comfortable in their own skin.

Now, I am not saying anything earth shattering here, but it does need to be said. We bitch about how women are treated as objects in other countries. Well, that's a bad thing, but we prefer our women to be submissive, tolerate their inequality and enjoy wearing their virtual burkas.