Where Will It End?

I'm feeling really overwhelmed just thinking about the future that young girls have to face...So much so that I'm finding it difficult to organize a coherent post, but I'll give it a shot anyway. Until our current cultural tendencies undergo a massive shift, things may only get worse for upcoming generations. By now, we are all keenly aware of the social and psychological damage wrought by impossible standards of beauty, female objectification of all kinds, the sexualization of children, countless double-standards and inequities that persist, and on and on. But what has really captured my attention lately is the actual physical damage--physical violence--which is a byproduct of it all. Of course, violence against women is not a new phenomenon either; it's just that it appears to be on the increase based on a number of stats and stories I've seen recently. For example, the statistic that 1 out of 5 women (and 1 out of 10 men) will be sexually assaulted, just blows my mind to bits. Even if this figure is incorrect and the number is 1 in 10, or even 1 in 20, that would still be completely unacceptable! The news that many politicians are voting against the Violence Against Women Act, leaves me wondering in anger and disbelief how anyone could do so in good conscience. Then there is the story from India that, in the wake of an abduction and rape, a city administration passed an order that women aren't allowed to work past 8:00 pm. This reminds me that the scope of these problems reach far and wide across the world. Sadly, the list of similar examples is virtually endless. So, what are we going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? What attitudes and behaviors will you change in yourself? What attitudes and behaviors will you teach your children? What attitudes and behaviors will you model for your cousins, nieces and nephews, students, and friends? Each of us had better find answers to those questions or today's girls may truly have to dread the future. Where will it end?