What a wonderful article from Mary Bryant. The author succinctly clarified the myriad of issues affecting all women and particularly young women in our society. And the author is right on when she identifies a lack of hope for young women underlying all these issues. When we no longer offer young women hope for a decent and better world we deny our selves the same hope. Women every where need to start talking about these issues, writing letters and working together to improve this society and bring back the concept hope through action.

Mary Bryant, well done. The article is certainly salutary and thought-provoking. But, more than that, it gave sound advice on what must be done.

Your list of actions is practical and can be taken up by ordinary people - with the will. We can and we must

- stop watching shows that degrade women;
- stop buying magazines that promote women as non-thinking skinny things;
- stop voting for leaders who show no commitment to civil liberties and equality;
- stop accepting violence and women’s position as status quo.
- write letters when advertising exploits women;
- talk about how to make parties safe for young women; how to oppose work practices that discriminate against women and how to ensure that women enjoy the same civil liberties as their male counterparts.

I find your action list inspiring.

One other thing we can and must do: stop propping up institutions that treat women as inferior beings - like the Church you work for.

One of the most lethal condition many women suffer is lack of Empowerment. Not understanding their own potentials leaves them with a winning formula of 'playing the victim',thus perpetuating this mindset for generations.

Our young women do indeed need we older ones to guide them through life, imparting our 'wisdom's, in whatever way we are able to.

A few years ago at a Doctors surgery, sitting near the table with a stack of magazines on it, I took the opportunity to show my then 10 yr old daugther the difference between a standard women's magazine and a Time magazine as far as topics and advertising is concerned. Needless to say, she was astounded to learn how women's magazines typically dumb women down , by making them focuss on less important things.

The sooner our young sisters understand that Women's Lib, was never truly about women's liberation, the sooner they will make the right choices and become contributors of substance to our sisterhood in helping others gain strength through empowement.

I think that Mary Bryant has hit the nail on the head with many of her observations relating to the problems that females face. I would venture to say that so many of these acts of violence against females could be attributed to the laisse faire attitude prevalent in schools where discipline cannot be enforced adequately for fear of retribution. It's certainly not enforced in many homes, so this nascent attitude is carried over into adulthood because self discipline has never been taught at school and "outcomes" (whatever that means)are the priority.
Drugs and alcohol (the latter being more destuctive) are freely available and are considered "adult" without the education that should be provided in its control. What a wonderful world it would be if the users of these substances were properly shown the results and consequences of their addiction before they started. We would have few assaults and the hospitals would have so much more money available for alternative medical therapies. The prisons would empty and perhaps we wouldn't have to lock everything up. We lived this way 50 years ago when respect for others was taught at the end of a cane or ruler.........but of course this is now regarded as "assault" and the poor little treasures would carry a malaise into later life. It was quick, solved the problem and did not have lasting effects. I had experience of those ways and and can catagorically say that I am glad of it. In many ways they were happier times.

Many of the suggestions Mary makes are good but maybe we would make more progress by stopping the generisation of issues which impact across the gender divide.

I can hear the critics screaming that Mary writes about women and that I should write my own article if I want mens issues addressed. What I am seeking is a removal of a focus on gender when it is not the issue. We should should oppose all non-consentual violence regardless of the gender of the victim and perpetrator, we should stop watching shows and doing business with advertisers who provide use gender messages in a way that does harm (anybody still have an account with the bank that thinks violence is an appropriate response to bad manners?).

Some issues primarily impact on women or men, those should be addressed on a gender basis, the rest should be addressed as human/social issues and addressed as such.

A focus just on women for issues that impact across genders reduces the impact of the message.

R0bert

A listing the problems of being a women.
Is that not the problem. We compartmentalise as women and men, we use hierarchal dominance as excuse for control. Men can be nasty---yes!
The main issue highlighted is sex and its surrogate the body as issue.
Have we a prejudice that makes sex so different from the rest of living. Yes.
But then sexual hormones are in ways not completely understood impatient drivers of activity, particularly for the younger and for those who substitute sex for satisfactions their life does not provide.
So sex is a religious thing, unlike say sport or learning? Special subject to double standards and all the ploys the human mind can use.
Women sexually abuse but less frequently than men. Women exploit their bodies (advertise) but so do men. Men are sexually demanding but is the hormonal urge greater? A girl loses virginity and she is a slut. Men suffer little penalty relevant to their age. Young men brag about scoring, do girls?
Men by custom, inadequate concern for human beings, by pay and position exploit women.
Why?
Surely this is the complaint.
If sex is not regarded as sin but as part of living with dangers like most other activities, were taught as part of life would things be better
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