By: Robert Avsec
Gender violence issues. Did you know that researchers have found that when a large percentage of both men and women hear those three words, what they really “hear” is “woman’s issues.” Other researchers have found that a similar “misinterpretation” occurs when people (again, both men and women) hear terms like domestic violence or violence against women, what they “hear” is “women’s issues.”
I saw the following video on-line at TED.com (I highly recommend getting to know TED!) and I’m not even going to try to quote or paraphrase what you can see and hear for yourself in this powerful and thought-provoking piece. (This guy is good!).
Why am I bringing this up? Because in too many of our nation’s institutions, including every branch of our armed services and our Fire and EMS organizations, we are not doing our best to address gender violence issues, gender discrimination and harassment, etc. More of my fellow males need to get involved, be actively present, and stop tolerating such behavior towards our wives, sisters, and daughters. (And let’s not forget that every woman on planet was and is somebody’s little girl).
If you’re a woman reading this, I highly recommend sharing this with every woman and man that you know, regardless of what they do for a living.
If you are one of my fellow males on the planet, I urge you…no, I implore you, to view this at least twice (and take notes). Then I implore you (once again) to share this with every man and woman that you know, but especially the men. Why? (Do I really have to explain it?).
So, what do you think? Send me your comments and thoughts through the Comment Section below, or off-line to me at robertavsec@fireemsleaderpro.com, and I’ll share them in a follow-up posting on this blog.
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