(April 1, 2011 ) — “Wanna hear a joke?” “Sure!” “Women’s rights.” I’ve heard this “joke” many times, but never have I found it funny. All over the world there are women suffering due to lack of respect from others just because of their gender; and all over the world there are women fighting for their own rights and for equality. From a personal point of view, my family moved to this country so that we’d experience the benefits that America has to offer, so no, women’s rights are not a joke. In other countries women are abused to death and humiliated until they reach their breaking point, which is usually suicide. In a recent issue of Upfront magazine, there was a story about a girl in Afghanistan who got her nose and ears cut off because she refused to follow the orders of her parents-in-law. Although we don’t have cases similar to those in countries like Afghanistan, who treat women worse then they treat dogs, I believe we should take advantage of the opportunities provided instead of making fun of them. It doesn’t even make sense to say that men are greater than women! Once given the opportunity, women more than once have either met or exceeded the achievements of men in this country. For example, women before were not allowed to pursue a career in science, but now that they’re allowed to, there are a numerous amount of women discovering things that men never figured out. I strongly agree with author and activist Isabel Allende when she says that all this time men have run the world, and yet look at the mess we have. Instead of women bettering this world, we sit in our cars and listen to male singers rap about their “shawties” having big butts. Although it is true that this world has come a long way from where it was years ago regarding women, we still have a very long way to go.