by Evelyn Henderson Ms. Henderson is a volunteer for the PRC. Rhona Scoffield addressed the October meeting of Ploughshares Ottawa on these two interwoven subjects. With clarity, logic and passion she revealed how deeply they are linked in her own life. She took her listeners with her into a critical look, full of humour and anecdote, at the Peace Movement and the Women's Movement. Born and educated in the U.S. (State College in Buffalo and an M.A. in Communications from Boston), Rhona is married to a Canadian working in External Affairs. She has lectured at Harvard, and taken an active part in peace groups and workshops on women's issues in England and Canada. Her communications skills are delightful to observe. September 16 is the United Nations' "Day of Peace." This year on that day, Rhona was collaborating in getting peace studies on to school curricula. Of course the need arose to define "What is peace?" Is it just staying out of war (negative) or working for justice and human rights (positive)? And what do we teach kids about conflict resolution? One of Rhona's best resource book, is Educating for Peace: A Feminist Perspective by Brigit Brock-Utne. So naturally she elaborated on the historical place of women in society, their function as peacemakers and advocates of non-violence world-wide. No society that is lopsided because it is male-dominated can be truly just and equitable. The contributions of women are assumed to be of lesser value than men's, and are unconsciously downplayed, undervalued and usually underpaid. Health care, education of the young, family nurture are accepted as services of no special worth by society and of course governments. As a Baha'i, Rhona believes in the equality of women and men. She knows that the struggle by women to be treated as equals has produced women striving to be like men, women retreating backwards into myths and magic powers, and defeated women passively playing the domestic role. But she also knows that double standards are destructive--alienating people from the natural world, their Creator and each other. Sex stereotyping is deeply engrained in most societies. Boys are aggressive, girls passive. Boys play with mechanical things and weapons, girls with dolls and colouring books. However gender is beginning to surrender to personhood. Women can band together for empowerment. Men can be tender and nurturing fathers. "As ignorance perpetuates prejudices so prejudices fuel wars." The sexual revolution dispels ignorance. and helps defuse the causes of war. But there is much that is structured into our culture that needs rooting out. It is insidious and vicious. Our society contains much that offends intellectual, social and ethical integrity. Take War Toys: not just "bang, bang. you're dead," but the products of our technology--wonderful deathdealing devices--monsters and aliens in murderous combat. Take TV Violence: our kids grow up on a steady diet of killing, brutality and violence all de-sensitized--with no ugly blood and guts, no apparent social ill effects. Take Sports: competitive, spectator sports. Win! Win! Fight!! Fight! Kill the bum! And the Box Office rules the game. Take Science: pure science unrelated to its applications. It has made possible the elimination of the "rules" of warfare, and the mass destruction of us and our planet. It has contributed to ecological disaster and underlain social disruption. Women are peculiarly suited to the causes of peace: creating peace-loving families, promoting social justice, developing human and healthy neighbourhoods, small and large. Women in power would be long on the peaceful resolution of conflict, and short on feeding their families into the jaws of war. Rhona's speech inspired our minds and shored up our determination never to flag in our pursuit of peace.
Note: 1. We have held this article for publication in March in honour of International Women's Week. Converted April 15, 2002 - Lg This article is an archival copy of the printed one in the Peace and Environment News (PEN). Viewpoints expressed should not be taken to represent the opinions of the Peace and Environment Resource Centre, the PEN, or our supporters. |