I have no intention of launching an attack on Laurie Penny for her New Statesman article. What good would it do? All I want from her, and feminists who share her views, is that they read I write below and try to absorb it. This is important. It is a direct message to all feminists who support the massive and unprecedented immigration that Europe is experiencing now, and has experienced for the last couple of decades. It is not enough to dismiss us all as racists and bigots, this may make you feel more comfortable but it simply isn’t true. It isn’t bigotry or racism to observe and acknowledge reality, and there are some harsh realities that I wish you would take on board. I’m aware that as dyed-in-the-wool left-wingers, these realities will not sit well with you but they are real nonetheless.
Harsh reality number one – we are not “all equal”.
Leftists are absolutely wedded to the notion that we are all alike, that we all share the same values, and we all want harmony and justice. We don’t. Like it or not, there are a lot of people out there who want violence and misogyny, who want the right to marry off their daughters, or to mutilate their genitals. Some people are rapists, some are jihadists, and some take great pleasure from tearing the clothes from a woman in a public square on New Year’s Eve. This leftist naivety that causes you to sanctimoniously advocate for open borders on behalf of your fellow human being doesn’t take any account of the fact that the executioner is a fellow human being, the sharia oppressor is a human being, the mutilator is a human being. Not all human beings have good intentions, try to learn that and then use your common sense to determine who you want to have around you, and who you do not.
But here’s the one that leftists really don’t like – not all cultures are equal either. Some cultures are far superior to others, this is nowhere more evident than on the treatment of women. You rightly point out that sexual assault is a serious matter regardless of where it takes place, but the fact of the matter is that these attacks did not take place in Germany prior to now, and German men were not responsible for them. These were attacks carried out by immigrants in Germany, and most have come from Muslim-majority countries.
Rape rates are exploding all over Europe; Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Germany, and especially Sweden. Most of these rapes are not being committed by native men, but by migrants, most of them from the Muslim world.
You said in your article that misogyny has no colour or creed. Colour yes, but creed? You must be joking! Doesn’t it ever occur to left-wing feminists that the treatment of women in the Islamic world is not only appalling by Western standards, but by any standards. When it comes to misogyny, the Islamic world is quite simply head and shoulders above the rest. Why do you think that is? What could it possibly be? Could it be because Islamic scripture teaches men that women are beneath them? That they can use violence against women that won’t submit?
Everywhere that Islam has influence, women suffer because of it. The severity varies certainly but I would argue that it varies depending upon how much influence Islam actually has.
Sharia law, a law based on Islam, is uniquely terrible to women. Her testimony is worth half of a man’s, she has little to no rights over her children, her husband is permitted to hit her if she is disobedient, and she has no unilateral right to divorce. You need to confront this reality, and realise that it is right here in Britain, and thriving. Even if you argue that sharia councils are a matter of choice, which they’re not, are you happy with the availability of that choice? Do you think treating women like that is something we should be able to choose to do? Or should it be disallowed on principle? Are you aware that sharia family law, as practiced in Britain, was declared by the House of Lords (in its legal capacity) as “wholly incompatible” with basic human rights, precisely because of its treatment of women? Why aren’t you, as a feminist, speaking out about that?
In no other culture in the world do the law books permit the stoning to death of women for adultery.
Another harsh reality is this: not all religions are the same. To argue that they are is to argue that the religion itself, its scripture and its practices, aren’t actually relevant. That is an absurd position. I will save you the trouble of “but the Bible…” and remind you of the centuries of secularisation that Western society has undergone, as well as moderation and reform within Christianity itself. Today, the Western world is not influenced in any significant way by Biblical literalism. The Islamic world, on the other hand, is enormously influenced by Quranic literalism, so much so that you can be executed (by law of the land) for questioning or criticising it. These are two different worlds feminists, and like it or not, they are not compatible.
Immigration is bringing Islamic norms, and Islamic attitudes towards women, to the West, and it is making free women less free, and safe women less safe. The reason what is happening in Europe is so shocking is not because European women are more important than other women, it’s because we’re seeing a reduction in the safety of previously safe women. We are seeing a reduction in the freedom of previously free women. We are turning back the clock on all of the achievements that have been made in the Western world. This is bad news for all women, regardless of where they live.
You appear to ignore and dismiss these achievements and speak as if things are as bad for women here as everywhere else. They’re not of course, but they soon could be, thanks to immigration from the Muslim world. Do you honestly think women’s position is no worse in Egypt or Somalia than it is in the UK? If you do, you simply cannot be taken seriously. If you won’t acknowledge and condemn the very worst treatment of women that exists in the world, why should I listen to you about anything related to feminism?
Last year, the film Suffragette was released. Personally, I found it somewhat disappointing in that it failed to sufficiently demonstrate the importance of a woman’s vote, and what her life was like beforehand. But I was far more disappointed to see the memory of these astonishing women smeared and slandered by leftists who attacked them as “racist” (what else?) The reason leftists are beginning to smear great Western achievements is the same reason left-wing feminists are more concerned about those of us protesting Muslim immigration than you are about rape, a deep-seated hatred of all things Western. Somewhere deep in the dark crevices of the soul, lefties believe that Europeans deserve to suffer: even moreso when those Europeans are white.
This despicable attack on the Suffragettes demonstrates a far wider and deeper sickness in the thinking of the “equality” obsessed left, and indeed a complete lack of understanding of what it was those women achieved. Thanks to the Suffragettes, women went from being property to owning property, and politicians began caring very much indeed what women were thinking. It was the greatest single achievement for women in modern history. And now their memory is tainted, thanks to the despicable Left.
The final harsh reality is this, and I’m glad I’m not the one who has to face it: you are contributing, quite significantly, to ensuring that 10,000s of women, who would not otherwise have faced sexual assault or rape, will now do so. Women will be raped because of your demand for open borders and your insistence that those of us who oppose them are racists or bigots. You won’t recognise the realities of life in any way, and are more than happy to allow rape in furtherance of your politics. You must be – you know it is happening and you still haven’t condemned the open borders that caused it.
I sincerely hope that at least some left-wing feminists wake up in 2016, and realise the enormity of the damage they are causing. I hope too that they grow up and stop focusing on ridiculous trivialities and realise just what danger they’re in. Stop attacking good men (I have many great men in my life, you should try it), families, decent conservatives, or sexy adverts, and start defending your civil rights; your right to vote, to protection from violence, to education, to marry who you choose, to petition for divorce, to rights over your children, to own property, to work…. The rights, in other words, the Suffragettes won for you and that every Islamist on the planet would happily take away.
It’s time for the harsh realities feminists. Women’s rights, actual civil rights, are in trouble in Europe. This is important and feminists are going to have to step up. But you don’t. Instead, you attack those of us who do. Shame on you.
Finally, a few words on Pegida. I understand that many will worry about walking with Pegida due to the undeserved reputation, but I would implore people to remember: those who allowed women to be sexually assaulted en masse, and covered it up, are the same people who call Pegida “far-right”.
These are the people who apparently did not have the resources to defend women from attack, but suddenly found troops and water cannons to stamp on democratic protest. This is where we are.
If a Government keeps its borders open to known dangers, while clamping down on those who protest, I know with whom I’ll be standing. It’s where a real feminist would stand, and I sincerely hope others will join me.