It seems to me there are two slopes here with differing degrees of fear of each. I fear them both, and I hope this battle is never fully won.
I think you misread my meaning. I wasn't moaning about either side or belittling them. I think they are both legit and important. I often see opposing forces as a good thing. It's how nature is stable. I'm glad to see people less repressed, but fearful of the means leading to other ends. I do think that if your side fully won, there would be repression and fear, but it would look different. That said, I don't take issue with your conviction, I don't think it isn't legitimate. Curious, have you read the autobiography of Malcolm X?
I mention the book because it is a candid and compelling account of his journey that was manifest in contradiction but was noble. Malcolm left the world a better place. His views on racial equality evolve, as do his views on gender. The ground moves beneath his feet. His views of women and his participation in the Nation of Islam were both progressive and regressive. Malcolm was at times right and wrong and neither and both, but he had a cause. You cannot define his work by a moment, or a measure. However, if you take him as the sum of his efforts, there is no question that we are better off for him. It is a very human story. I think everyone should read it. I agree with the pace of progress. Those repressions are clear. As an aside, some actualization is complicated, and it becomes difficult to get a social consensus on dignity, especially in matters of religion. I think polygamy is an interesting example. It is illegal, and most Mormons no longer practice it. But is that right? Should consenting adults be able to choose to live in polyamorous union? I think so. But maybe not if as children they have been subjected to religious indoctrination of a patriarchal-style polygamy? But why? Is that denying religious identity and dignity? Are agnostics and atheists in the clear for patriarchal-style polygamy? Should we choose? I don’t want to repress adults that want a certain kind of family, but at the same time, I am worried about why they want it. For some groups, it is not clear when respect and dignity are met for all. Is there a battle won when one man and three women are married? Some people want that. I don’t know. On some matters of repression there should be no debate. But it doesn't mean that all matters repression can be settled by applying a vision of respect and dignity. In some subjective value judgments get entangled.