During debate on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, Representative Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City) talked about the need to educate men on how to treat women.
“We have a culture of violence towards women,” she said. “That has not been addressed and it doesn’t get addressed in this bill. The most effective programs are the ones that work with young men on our campuses and help them educate each other about how to treat women properly.”
If how men are to treat women is college level education, we’re in trouble. Mascher gets to the root of the problem, sort of, but never really puts her finger on it.
“I always find it interesting that a majority of men in this chamber are telling us, women, how to protect ourselves and what we should do,” she said. “I think we know what to do. But what we don’t know how to do and what we need help with is what you’re actions can be and how you can teach your own children, your own sons and the people in your communities about what it means to respect women. Because we wouldn’t have the problems that we have today if people did that.”
She continued.
“We wouldn’t see the domestic violence. We wouldn’t see the sexual assault,” she said. “We wouldn’t see all of these things occurring on campuses that we know happen every single day. So if you really want to do something significantly, let’s work on how we help educate men and change this culture of violence towards women.”
So close, but she never really identified the biggest contributing factor to not just this problem, but many of society’s problems.
She hinted at it… if only there was some figure in a child’s life tasked with teaching a young boy how to properly treat a woman. How to show a woman care, compassion, dignity, respect.
If only there were some figure put in every child’s life who God intended for such a purpose.
When a conversation about fatherlessness starts to take place not just in the Iowa legislature but across the country, then we’ll be on our way to solutions.
Unfortunately the government has stepped in to help play the role of father for far too many families. But nobody can replace the role a father is to play in a child’s life.
It might not be something Democrats believe. And it might not be something Republicans are comfortable talking about.
But it’s reality.
The sooner we have this discussion on the importance of the nuclear family AND having a father in the home, the sooner we’ll find solutions. If that’s truly our legislature’s priority.
