Every Father & Son Should Watch Oprah’s Magnetic Golden Globes Speech on Repeat
I believe I have watched Oprah Winfrey’s Cecil B. DeMille Award speech at least four times after its live viewing.
I can’t explain it but I was at complete awe and entranced by the way she captivated the audience and delivered a powerful message about the importance of women’s rights, ending the cycle of abuse, believing and supporting those who have suffered sexual assault and discrimination. All these factors kept playing in my head over and over again.
More importantly, I kept thinking I wished more men in my family watched her speech.
Misogyny isn’t instinctive but rather taught by the patriarch society that we currently inhabit. There’s a cultural influence on men that allows the perception that we can treat women in any way we like without having to deal with the consequences because it’s “just in our nature.”
Imagine every woman who has been catcalled, hollered, or chanted at in a derogatory manner that made them seem nothing more than objects for perverse lust. I’ve even had women tell me that this has happened to them ever since they were as young as eight years old. It’s a disturbing cycle with all too similar scenarios that it’s any wonder how it has lasted this long.
But as I mentioned before, it’s taught to us.
The reason why I would like the men in my family to watch this speech on repeat is because I feel it’s vital for them to get the message and instill value that would encourage future generations to not repeat the cycle of misogyny. The type of abuse Oprah mentions in her speech has even happened to women in my family and those experiences are haunting, even coming from those close to us.
None of us want what happened to Recy Taylor — a name people should be familiar with — or women who are domestic workers and farm workers. It’s vital that men do their part and put an end to this cycle of abuse. Watching this speech will not only instill an important message for many generations to come but also invoke a dramatic change that has been a long time coming.
