My husband and I were talking about women's issues and the fact that we are still struggling to be heard and to be taken seriously and to be valued and respected in many societies in many countries around the world. And he said to me, "Why do you think that is?"

Thread.

And I said it's because historically - over the entire history of our sex - men have been in charge, and they have made all the rules.

Our issues arise from a massive imbalance of power - a generational one, a historical one - and course correction is proving near impossible because no matter how hard we try, there will always be a deficit.

It's like being in debt for decades and then trying to make a dent in it during the course of your lifetime, and succeeding very little. No matter how hard you try, you're going to leave that debt to your children, to those who come after you.

In our case, we struggle and we strive and we leave it to our daughters, our nieces, our grand-daughters, to all the young women who take over from us.

And this is the problem with trying to correct a historical imbalance of power. Women are especially vulnerable in every country in every world. If you think that's only the case in countries you've never been to and will probably only ever hear about, you're wrong.

It happens right here, behind closed doors, inside the four walls of houses you will never visit.

Women cannot exercise their fundamental rights across the world. Whether that's taking control of their own sexuality, getting to decide whether or not to keep an unwanted pregnancy, depending on men for their wellbeing and their safety and for the wellbeing...

...and safety of their children, being paid less than men for doing the same jobs, being forced into submissive roles by this economic inequality, and even staying in risky relationships because they fear abandonment and starvation...

...women make these impossible choices and live these impossible lives on a daily basis.

This historical power imbalance means that 50 percent of the world's population has *never* had an opportunity to live up to their immense potential and that they have struggled and continue to struggle to be taken seriously and valued and respected as human beings.

Whether it's pornography, the proliferation of lad mags, "sex work" (all things that objectify and compartmentalise women), or FGM, or the fact that forced marriages and child marriages still occur, or the persistent pay gap and the lack of women in positions of power...

...in boardrooms across the world, or the fact that you still can't find women in STEM, or the stereotypes that are imposed upon us (virgin, mother, whore, and so on), or the fact that body image stereotypes are still thrust upon us making us feel that we have impossible...

...standards to live up to, or the fact that women are still a minority in the higher echelons of political power the world over, this power imbalance is there for all of us to see.

Various other things skewer the power imbalance. The fact that in certain communities women are still kept uneducated, and things like society, community, religion, ethnicity, low to no income, disability, sexuality, geography, and more impact this power imbalance still further.

Women impacted by one or more of these factors have different needs but attempts to point these out and to work to make space for these women to emerge from their shackles are met with apathy or sabotage on the parts of men, and sadly, some women themselves.

As women, we know that discrimination comes in a variety of forms and takes on many guises. Objecting to the image of a woman in bunny ears with large breasts holding up two beer mugs on a poster in a pub gets you branded as uptight and severe.

You could point out that this objectification of a woman is indicative of a society where women have to look a certain way and exude a certain kind of sexuality and that it's a sign that a woman's appearance is still the marker that she is judged on...

...but you get shouted down and branded a divisive dried up prude of a feminist. Because nobody wants to hear that sort of thing, sit down and drink up love.

We have seen in our struggles how so many things are used to objectify us, including our own reproductive capacities. We have seen picture-perfect models whose photographs are airbrushed to make them seem even more unattainable, pushing our young girls and teenagers into anorexia

... or worse in an attempt to emulate the stars whose photos are not even real. We have seen female sports players whose bodies don't fit a certain stereotype be discounted and called ugly and have their femininity questioned.

Our job as radical feminists and activists is not just to correctly identify these inequalities and imbalances but to redistribute the power and resources required to overcome these inequalities to benefit those of us who need it the most.

We are battling for many things but one of those is a fairer society for our sex. This is important work that we are doing.

What can you do? Pick up the phone. Write emails. Actively campaign for women's voices to be heard. Tell women's stories. Ask the people in power who ostensibly represent you what they are doing to help the women in their constituencies and their country.

Support the people overseas who are working to liberate women there. Do this, and the world will change. Do this, and we will course correct. We may not fully erase that debt in our lifetimes, but we will leave less of a debt for our daughters.