Losing My Religion for Equality…by Jimmy Carter

Important and powerful words from Jimmy Carter published in Women's Press...

"Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practicing Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries."

READ MORE: "Losing My Religion for Equality"

A Challenge to Boys and Men: Will You Help Stop Rape Culture? by Patricia Leavy, PhD

"We so often think about rape and sexual assault as "women's issues" and we focus on individual cases. But the facts are that boys and men have a significant role to play in stopping rape and rape culture, and it's just that, a part of our culture."

Read the full article

"To My Male Relatives on Facebook Who 'Like' Sexism" by Jessica Valenti

This was written by Jessica Valenti for The Nation and is so important and appropriate for discussions around masculinity, sexism, and gender-based violence.

(an excerpt) "...I know that a quick click on the “like” button may not seem like a big deal to you—but it scares me to think about the larger implications. I think about the high school kid in Steubenville, Ohio, joking and laughing about the unconscious teen girl in the next room who had just been raped by two of his classmates. That may seem a million miles away from “liking” a video—but it’s all part of the same world, the same culture that devalues women. Even laughing at a joke about rape supports the idea that women are less than and makes rapists think that you are like them. And the more you laugh at this stuff, the easier it becomes to take the ideas you’re laughing at more and more seriously."

Read the article here: "To My Male Relatives on Facebook Who 'Like' Sexism"

Suicide is a Gender Issue that Can No Longer Be Ignored (by Jane Powell)

"Suicide rates among men have risen again. It's time to address the root causes of men's depression and inability to talk..."

"Men, regardless of age group, often don't recognise when they are depressed. Depression in men is likely to be signalled by anger, so won't be recognised either by men themselves or by women as depression. Ironically, they may end up in jail rather than a GP's surgery. For a man to ask for help is seen as failure, because by convention men are supposed to be in control at all times."

Read more: Suicide is a Gender Issue That Can No Longer Be Ignored