the undying crown

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the undying crown

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Today's prompt -- or rather, yesterday's prompt that I'm doing today due to sickness, is "strength." I'll need to slog this coming Sunday to make up the shortfall.

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Monday was International Women's Day and over and over again, we're rocked by stories of women disappearing, being assaulted, being scared of being in public spaces due to the ill-treatment by their male counterparts, women being disbelieved in clinics and hospitals only to have their diagnoses confirmed when it is too late, women facing racism, gender-based hatred, and classism.

Women being deprived of awards and chances by organisations that are old boys' clubs in practice.

While these have been reduced, these still go on and we can never say that they're things of the past if they still go on.

But I want to highlight the strength of the women who, having fled persecution in the lands of their birth, travel from one end of the world to another, not knowing what they will face.

They have talents and gifts and so much strength to give to their host countries, but instead they are branded "leeches" and "lazy" people who will also, paradoxically, "take away (the) jobs (of the people of the host country)."

They spend years being prevented from working and advancing, while their counterparts, who have always known freedom, get to advance. When they are assaulted, suffer traumatic attacks from torture, or fall sick, they are nearly never believed.

Age catches up with the asylum seeker women, and before long, they are treated as used goods because of their age.

One knows not where we find the strength to live.

The title, "the undying crown," is very poignant to me, and doubtless will be a poignant reminder for many of these women, because we don't have anyone who will celebrate our talents and our infinite potential. On the off chance that we are emancipated, we won't have songs written about us, stories written about us, awards given to us for the boundaries we broke with our craft. Nothing. We fled having nothing, and unless some stroke of luck happens, we will have nothing. The only thing we can hope for is the crown of the afterlife, the crown that will never, ever die.

And that is all I have left to hope for.

Please don't wish me a happy International Women's Day. Ever. Instead, start acting to change things for the better, especially for the women in your lives. If they're living good lives, look outward, and help the women out there who still continue to suffer. Turn your worry, your concern, your sadness, your pity, your compassion, your anger, into unstoppable power. That is the least you could do on that day.

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CIEIRMusic

2021-03-13 13:57:47

This should be in an Anime.

TrandafirTeodora

2021-03-11 11:04:12

Wow. I like the song and the message behind it.
There are so many women being mistreated, it's sad. Feminism doesn't do jack shit to them, it's like a disguise meant to say: "what do you mean, we care about women's rights", while things that affect women everyday aren't adressed. Especially young women that live in 3rd world countries.
In the country where I live, when a young girl gets abused, the blame often falls on the girl, not the abuser. And the worst part? The abusers often walk freely or are given prison sentences that could at best be described as a slap on the wrist(less than 5 years). Only recently the government has slightly raised the prison sentence for pedophiles. It may be because there aren't many law enforcements in rural areas or that the abusers are somehow rich and have connections. It makes my blood boil.
The only thing I wish I could tell them is God is there and sees them, and will give them their deserved punishment in Hell.

Troisnyx responds:

It's the same thing when corporations only say they care about the rights of women, minorities, or LGBTQ+ persons — it's all about optics, hopping on bandwagons, lip service.

A lot of true change starts with our individual actions, and the actions we take as communities. If we can't put it into practice ourselves, then we can't expect the rest of the world around us to change when we are unwilling to.

We need to start somewhere, with little support networks to help those in our communities whom we know are in need. It's gotta be from the ground up. The top brass will kick and scream, and they'll do that loudly — but what matters is, we're doing something to sort this out, and they aren't. When more and more people catch on to this behaviour, the top brass will realise they're out of touch. A cynical waiting game perhaps, but one that ultimately starts with us.

And yes — earthly ramifications are much kinder to endure than the ramifications of the afterlife, for sure.