Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 16. July 16 1979
A Second View
A Second View
It would at first appear to many [unclear: peo] that the restriction of men to some [unclear: won] organisation meetings and discussions [unclear: o] campus is somewhat against the spirit [unclear: o] equality between the sexes, which [unclear: wh] women's liberation is fighting for. [unclear: But] one considers the oppression of [unclear: women] our society it can be justified, in my [unclear: op ion].
Women are conditioned to be [unclear: submi] to men; the word 'submissive' when [unclear: ap] ied to the conditioning of women [unclear: enta] a number of restrictions — 'women [unclear: are] natural as leaders' — 'women should [unclear: no] be of an agressive, organising nature' — 'women should consider themselves [unclear: fit] fulfil their role of obedient wife, [unclear: mothe] and household worker before anything else".
These stereotype roles are what the men's liberation movement is fighting, breakdown. To do this women must [unclear: fi] be able to communicate freely and a [unclear: e] with other people about their own [unclear: pers] al confrontations with sexism in our [unclear: so] for from my experience, the majority [unclear: o] women have not got the confidence [unclear: (fr] social conditioning) to do this freely [unclear: if] are present. (Have you ever been to [unclear: sh] forums etc and actually noticed that [unclear: by] far more guys get up and speak to the [unclear: r] ing, ask questions etc?)
It is imperative that women only [unclear: me] ings continue to do the essential jobs [unclear: o] building up confidence to those [unclear: women] are sick of being treated as second [unclear: class] izens; of being chattels in a [unclear: patriarchal] iety; of not being able to fulfil their [unclear: po] ential as people.
Men have never been excluded from fight to attain equality for women — [unclear: bl] if you are a sympathiser to the women'. movement this important aspect must [unclear: n] be overlooked.
To finish up — a quote from the [unclear: wor] movement which applies to all people [unclear: w] in some way are oppressed — whether [unclear: it] because of your sex, colour, [unclear: religion]— "None so fit to break the chains, than [unclear: t] who wear them ".