fMaria has 3 post(s)

The article “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?”  by LiMa Abu-Lughod examines the way that individuals visualize the ideal of a “typical” Muslim woman. This ideal that is given to the that hey need the rest of the world to save them, is just simple minded. The stereotype that is given to them always sees them as victims. The idea that these  brace and strong woman are t fragile and may sometimes choose to wear burkas simply is mind boggling to them. Muslim woman are accustomed to wearing and covering their traditional religious veils. From societies perspective they’re being oppressed. From other societies perspectives they are being oppressed and not given their human rights. The question is how can we say this without questioning how with our assumptions we are neglecting them from their freedom as humans. They’re human rights are being taken away for the simple fact that other societies are not understanding their culture.

Moyn’s explanation of human rights begins by giving us a background of how they emerged. After WWII the concept of human rights began as a way to stop and prevent “crimes against humanity”. However, Moyn explains that this concept wasn’t really taken into consideration until a later time. Human rights were just an ideology that was thought of. Human rights can be seen as a movement. This human rights movement was a way for people to speak up against the government. They wanted to have their rights protected; they wanted the government to give them the human rights, which they deserved as humans and not because of the country or nation that they lived in. Political resistance was viewed when speaking up for human rights. It was as if you were going against what the government had set up for you.

The rights of man were for the government. This means that the individuals were seen and given rights based on their belongings, socioeconomic status and religion amongst others. There was autonomy over individuals rather than general liberties. In a sense the government was putting a limitation to the rights that were granted. Socialism was the way in which individuals had to conform to.

Human rights were based on morals. As we know morals are based on the individual, there isn’t a general moral code that everyone lives by. The only code would be human rights, that those rights weren’t the same for everyone. The rights of man were viewed based on the status that the individual held, the position in which they had. In order for an individual to have “more” rights they had to own more property, stand on a higher socioeconomic status. Overall they had to agree and live by the standards that were set for them. Human rights were granted for people to be safe, for their rights to be respected, for the government to not take advantage of individuals. However, even now we’re living in a time where our liberty is taken advantage of and is taken for granted. Cruelty against humanity is happening, torture and killings are happening against humanity. Human rights were thought of to be the natural rights a human in born with regardless of categorization. We must now focus on humanitarian rights as a natural universal born right instead of a given right. The separation of rights shouldn’t be the basis of human rights.

Hello everyone. My name is Maria Canela Basilio. Yes, I have both of my parent’s last names. As my mother would say “I birthed you so its only right I get my last name in there as well.” Well my mothers’ strong, independent way of thinking is what has led me to CWE. I am on my final semester of my undergraduate career. My major in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Social Welfare. This was stood out to me because I feel that I need to be more educated in order to be the best feminist that I’m capable of being. During the Woman’s March I saw a sign that read something like “Women rights are human rights.” This sign just proved to me that me taking this course was needed. I’m very interested in becoming more educated and aware of all the struggles that women all around are facing. As we all know, women in the US aren’t being looked at as equal of value as men are according to the new elected President Trump. I hope to gain knowledge and confidence as the semester progresses. I hope to enjoy and feel empowered by this course.

“Founding Fathers,” but what did they really find. The Declaration of Independence, according to Lynn Hunt (2007) didn’t give much independence or human rights to anyone that wasn’t a rich white male. This is similar to the way in which politics are being viewed in today date. This document served as a starting point to proclaim that humans needed to have basic rights. However, the people considered human enough to be granted these rights fell into a very slim group. Jefferson was one of these Founding Fathers, what’s controversial is that him himself was a slave owner. Whether he gave them “better treatment” or not is still going against what he was stating in the Declaration of Independence. Even though, we have come a very long way there is still a lot of gray areas. The United Nations adopted these articles as the International Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. However, there are still restrictions, rights are limited depending on where you fall in the pyramid of society, class, and socioeconomic status and religion. In todays day protests are happening often. Social media is one of the most powerful ways in which injustices are being shouted upon. As individuals it is our duty to call out when one’s basic human rights are being taken advantage of, when a human isn’t being treated equally because of where they come from, because of whom they belief in.