It’s in times of disaster, crisis or war; that a society shows its true colours. Tragedy blows away the performative political grandstanding. And it’s during these times – when lives are saved, and others left behind – that the reality about who is truly the ‘disposable gender’, comes into sharp focus. Yup. The iceberg hits, the gun fire cracks, the volcano belches into the skies above; a tyrant invades, or an pandemic rears its ugly head… Did you hear it too? “Women and children first!” As the adage goes. And they do. The Birkenhead Drill is after all, the standard procedure taken when a boat goes to its watery grave. The men stand back, and the women hop aboard the life boats. And such a phenomenon is by no means exclusive to seas. We see it too, right now, as society surfs its own treacherous political waters of the refugee crisis – women and children are welcome, and the men, well… they can fuck off. Belgium, renowned as a progressive society, has just joined the countries refusing to accept single men as refugees, and sadly they are not the first to do so. The women got the heated tents in Calais, the food packages in Haiti, and the healthcare in Sierra Leone – the men go to the back of the queue, and likely die. Again, it sounds harsh – but such a thing is quite literally the official policy of both the UN and the World Food Program in crisis zones, and if you don’t believe me, read it for yourself (tinyurl.com/4bes6kat) So I ask, is this prioritisation ethical – or even legal? Is it not a violation of the basic human right to equal protection? How do we choose who lives and who dies, and should such a decision really be based on genitals? For do men suffer any less in times of crisis? And when, if ever, will they be welcomed to safe shores like women are? What do you think? ~ Images by Kiwi Hug, Elizebeth Jurenka, and Codioful. Iran Protest Raw Data

2023-09-15