"Det. Lefebvre was a child-abuse investigator. She interviewed the children, and one of Sahar’s chief complaints was a lack of freedom.
Prosecutor Lacelle asked her, “How did Sahar appear?” and Det. Lefebvre replied, “Well, I was surprised. She said she had no freedom, but she was well-dressed, wore jewelry, had nice makeup. She did not seem depressed.”
And the detective told Sahar that: “I said, ‘no freedom?’. I said, ‘You’re well-dressed, have nice makeup.’”
Let that be a lesson for Canadian police, women’s rights activists, social workers and the like: The oppression of girls and women wears different faces, and some of them are beautiful, not battered, and some of them are beautifully made up. Birds in gilded cages are still in cages."
From a Christie Blatchford-written article in The National Post. I know, I know--I can't believe it either...I read something from The National Post AND it was by Christie Blatchford. Can't believe I agreed with so much of it either.
But that tells us so much about the perceptions of the world--here, a supposedly-trained child-abuse investigator questions someone's perception that they lack freedom--because they're wearing makeup and nice clothes. And this is a perception that goes to women as well--that a well-dressed, nicely-made-up woman couldn't be abused because if she has money...she'd just leave.
We still have so far to go.
