#ignorantamericans

[fun-derdownunder]

Wandering around Margaret Court Arena because I love tennis…and, in true Rachel & Garrett fashion, we got swindled into free tickets for Hamish & Andy’s last radio show, including a performance by Peking Duk, who did not ‘let us down’. #hamishandandy #apparentlytheyreabigdeal #ignorantamericans #pekingduk #letyoudown #melbournespontaneity (at Margaret Court Arena)

[nihilistbre-blog]

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

First off, I must start of by saying this is a fantastic short film. Second, this is one of the saddest films I have ever seen in my life. Who knew that honor killing was a practice still performed in countries such as India, Pakistan, and even America! For those who do not know what honor killing is, it is “the practice of killing of a relative, especially a girl or woman, who is perceived to have brought dishonor on the family” (Thanks Google). Some of you may think, “oh that makes sense” while others of you are sitting here thinking, “are you fo’real?” Well yeah, I am fo’real. These honor killings vary from killing a daughter for not marrying the correct man to even killing a daughter for being raped. Yes, lets recap, not for raping someone, but for BEING RAPED! Confusing idea to grasp for us typical Americans right? How can it possibly be her fault when she was raped. The crazy thing is that these honor killings are socially accepted! Something even crazier is that if the woman survives these honor killings she is forced to forgive her almost murderers (which are typically family members). However, she usually personally does not want to forgive them, but society pressures her to do so. If not, she would be perceived as a social outcast and her family will be treated as one.  In A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Saba, a young teen falls in love with a man her father had originally selected for her to marry. They had engaged in phone calls and had developed feelings/a crush for each other. However, her uncle did not approve of this arrangement and denied her marriage. He believed that this boy’s family was too poor and was not in the same ranking as their family. Desperately, Saba eloped with her love with the help of his parents. Saba’s family soon found out and her father and uncle went out to search for her. When they found her they swore on the Quran, YES THE QURAN, that they would not harm her. As expected the moment they got her alone they began to beat her. Saba pleaded and begged that they leave her alone but they did not. Rather than beating her to death they raised a gun to her brain and shot her face. Luckily, she was able to turn so it grazed her cheek rather than going right through her skull into her brain. Next, her uncle and father put her in a bag and threw her in a river. After some time, she regained consciousness and enough strength to climb out of the river base. She soon found help at a local gas station and eventually from a hospital. Rather than returning to her family, she returned to her in-laws, partially because her family had been/felt as if they had been deceived by her. Crazy thing, her family agreed with the actions of her father and uncle and found nothing wrong with the fact that they ALMOST KILLED HER. Saba’s father and uncle were thrown in prison and her father admitted to the camera woman that he would do it again.  Saba then got a lawyer and they agreed to come to an agreement with the father and uncle. However, the day of her trial her family got her a new lawyer, a lawyer who did not care about Saba but cared about the honor/social connections of her family. Her in-laws did care about her, but they could not suffer being outcasts. (I’m still actually confused how someone can be outcasted for almost being killed) The new lawyer lied and said Saba wanted her family to be released and she was ultimately forced and pressured by society to forgive them for what they did. At the end, she regained communication with her family, forgave her father and was expecting a child with her husband. Now, I understand I am an American teenager who does not understand ANY of this. Rather than making me sad this film made me furious. I was in complete shock of the situations and lifestyles women in these countries have to live. I actually have two Indian roommates and they often talk about the lifestyles their parents planned for them. By life I mean arranged marriages. It’s 2016, who still does that right? No, wrong. Many immigrants from different countries come to America and bring their culture and traditions with them too. My 19 year old roommates are expected to not marry the man of their dreams but the man that their parents choose from them. It angers me, but that is their culture and I do not agree with it, but accept it. Similarly I am struggling to accept honor killing. I do not want to accept it honestly. I do not want to accept the idea that family members, mostly men, can kill their daughters for childish mistakes like marrying their dream boyfriend that us American teenagers fantasize about every night before going to bed. Here in America some parents are like whatever, some stay mad at your for months maybe years, and some may make you divorce them, but I have NEVER heard of anyone being killed. Yes, I understand that America and India for example are two different countries and even worlds to be completely honest, but we are still the same somehow. We still have humans, all humans are the same inside so why do we treat them differently on the outside? My one response to this is education. We are lacking education. Not only in India and Pakistan but even in America. If we are properly educated about other countries and their traditions maybe I won't sound like a ignorant American teenager talking about honor killings. However, what if India or Pakistan or other countries are so educated that they change their honor killing beliefs. What if they experience their enlightenment and have their own Mary Wollstonecraft and bring feminism into India. I think that would  be beautiful. America didn’t like women having power at first, but look at us now. Today we have women running for president, women who are lawyers, doctors, teachers, firefighters, nurses, police officers, wrestlers, historians, the list is endless... 2016 does not mean that countries do not have time to change. Countries can still change their social classes,traditions, and beliefs but sometimes they just need a little push. Maybe not from outside people, like us ignorant Americans, but maybe from natives themselves, or even Indian-Americans who are familiar with their culture (yes, calling out my roomies). Why not push for women equality! Ironically today is International Women’s Day! Why can’t women love who they want to love! Why can’t women have a say in what goes on in their life!? Why can’t women control their happiness? I hope and pray that one day the world is a happy place, where people have equal rights and happy lives.. for now, lets not sit in the back seat and watch everything unfold, get in the drivers seat and try to steer the world in a more positive direction. Cheers to my first blog ever, I don’t know how often these will come.  Bre