It should never be left to the group of suppressed, harassed or otherwise badly-treated people alone, to speak up about those issues. It is a sign of a good society that those well-off speak up for those worse-off. That those part of a majority raise awareness for the problems of a minority.
It should not only be left to gay men and lesbians, for example, to fight for same-sex marriage and not just up to suppressed women in the Arab world to demand more rights.
But speaking for a group you are not part of always raises credibility issues. How do you know what that group wants or needs? Here is what feminist Germaine Greer has to say about that:
“People are always turning on me and saying ‘why do you want to upset all these young housewives who are happy having their babies and blah blah blah’ and I have to say ‘Look I don’t want to upset all those happy young housewives. There are thousands of other women who are not in the least happy and who are yelling for help.’
(From the BBC Radio 4 program “The New Elizabethans” broadcast last Monday.)
— From London.
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