Peace Is SO Complicated!

I was completely overwhelmed by the Women and Peace reading! I had never before taken time to contemplate anything too serious about the meaning of peace...to me, peace means, well, peace. Ah! It sounds so dull, but before I read (/skimmed :X) The Meaning of Peace for Women, I suppose I equated peace with harmony, happiness, calmness, security, etc.; good feelings generated and felt as a result of nothing bad or violent happening (peace is not conflict/violence). My brain was writhing inside my head attempting to understand the complexity of peace! Positive, negative?! Direct and Indirect violence and the affects each can have on the individual and/or collective levels (micro/macrolevel)?! Unorganized and organized?! Damn, peace is so involved! It seems to me that defining peace would be a life-long process, especially considering the numerous cultural and societal variances that wold need to be taken into account.

I really liked the "Women's Rights are Human Rights" article...reading about everything these women have been fighting for makes me want to give them all huge hugs. I'm so grateful (and often take for granted the fact) that I have never really had to deal with violence against women in a very direct way. I admire the women who fought/fight for women's rights in countries all over the world and feel like I need to go do my part somehow! It's amazing to read about the transformation of women's rights over the past decade, and I couldn't agree more that women's right are human rights! I think that increased public awareness of women's rights and increased education about women's terrible, oppressed, exploited, etc. situations around the world has finally led to the beginnings of a revolution. While change will inevitably come over time, shifting the worldwide perceptions of international women's rights is a work in progress that will only improve as more governments begin following and respecting the demands of the UN and other organization devoted to ending violence against women.