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Sexism and Gender Roles
Feb. 27th, 2010 06:15 pmAnd now for something completly different...
I'd like to offer my response to this video:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html
I find it more than a little discriminatory to assume that emotion and compassion are female traits. That kind of message does more harm than good. The segregation of our HUMAN traits into "girl" and "boy" categories, actually makes it harder for people to embrace them. It actually embraces sexism.
If a man is emotional, compassionate, if he cries then we say he is acting like a girl. If a girl is strong, outspoken, passionate, then people say she behaves unladylike. I for one, would just say they are acting human. There is nothing about your emotions, actions, hobbies, words, style of dress, appearance, beliefs, successes, failures, that states what gender you are. Gender is all about how YOU think of YOURSELF. It has nothing to do with the outside world or what society's views of you are. Crying is not something girls do and fighting is not something boys do. Those are things that humans do.
Horrible things are done to females throughout the world, just on the sole basis that they are girls, that they are women. And I agree, these are atrocities. I believe a lot of it is due to the fact that in quite a few societies, women and girls are viewed as less than human, as somehow different, so therefore it is alright to do whatever you like to them. This type of strategy has been used on any number of groups that people have wanted opressed, though it has always historically been used on women the most throughout an apparent majority of societies.
Men and women are different. People tell us this from the day we are born, and we are treated differently from a very young age, if not by our parents, than by the rest of society. Yes, physically, men and women ARE different, that's not something we can get away from. But if you truly want to embody a lifestyle free of sexism, that is where the differences stop. Men and women are the same, they are both humans. Everyone should be in touch with their humanity and their own emotions and feelings because if you repress those things, its bad for you. The kind of sexism that I am talking about harms both males AND females.
Something that I think a lot of feminists gloss over is how harmful this has all been on men as well. People often think that men have it all, they were the first to be able to vote, go to school, get high paying jobs, live independantly, and are not generally considered to be someone's property. These things are all well and good, and I don't dispute that, and I don't want to minimalize the women of the world who DON'T get to do all of these things. But men have paid a price for being the "superior" sex.
As I stated above, men are not allowed to cry because if they do they are deemed "girly". There is a whole bunch of things that men are not allowed to do because they are men and people deem those things inappropriate for men to do. But hey, men get to go to school and make a lot of money, right? This must make up for it. They should feel lucky, right?
There are different kinds of oppression, and I don't believe getting more societal privledges makes up for the kind of emotional torture that men have had to endure through societal conditioning. Now, the same thing is being applied to women too, and its even more confusing to them: Women, act ladylike, or no man will ever want to be with you. Shave your legs, have long hair, wear makeup and sexy clothing, be weak and skinny and allow yourself to be dominated BUT you also have to be strong, take charge, use your body to get what you want, control men and be superior to them in every way, make just enough money as they do etc. Contradictory, to say the least.
Changing societal pressures does not mean being the opposite of everything your gender has traditionally been, its being who you are and following your own heart despite what others would rather have for you.
Accept yourself for everything that you are, embrace your thoughts, feelings, actions, holdups, likes, dislikes, the way you look. Embrace your humanity. Its not about whether or not you are male or female or anything between or outside of those things. You are a human and should be allowed to be as such.
I'd like to offer my response to this video:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html
I find it more than a little discriminatory to assume that emotion and compassion are female traits. That kind of message does more harm than good. The segregation of our HUMAN traits into "girl" and "boy" categories, actually makes it harder for people to embrace them. It actually embraces sexism.
If a man is emotional, compassionate, if he cries then we say he is acting like a girl. If a girl is strong, outspoken, passionate, then people say she behaves unladylike. I for one, would just say they are acting human. There is nothing about your emotions, actions, hobbies, words, style of dress, appearance, beliefs, successes, failures, that states what gender you are. Gender is all about how YOU think of YOURSELF. It has nothing to do with the outside world or what society's views of you are. Crying is not something girls do and fighting is not something boys do. Those are things that humans do.
Horrible things are done to females throughout the world, just on the sole basis that they are girls, that they are women. And I agree, these are atrocities. I believe a lot of it is due to the fact that in quite a few societies, women and girls are viewed as less than human, as somehow different, so therefore it is alright to do whatever you like to them. This type of strategy has been used on any number of groups that people have wanted opressed, though it has always historically been used on women the most throughout an apparent majority of societies.
Men and women are different. People tell us this from the day we are born, and we are treated differently from a very young age, if not by our parents, than by the rest of society. Yes, physically, men and women ARE different, that's not something we can get away from. But if you truly want to embody a lifestyle free of sexism, that is where the differences stop. Men and women are the same, they are both humans. Everyone should be in touch with their humanity and their own emotions and feelings because if you repress those things, its bad for you. The kind of sexism that I am talking about harms both males AND females.
Something that I think a lot of feminists gloss over is how harmful this has all been on men as well. People often think that men have it all, they were the first to be able to vote, go to school, get high paying jobs, live independantly, and are not generally considered to be someone's property. These things are all well and good, and I don't dispute that, and I don't want to minimalize the women of the world who DON'T get to do all of these things. But men have paid a price for being the "superior" sex.
As I stated above, men are not allowed to cry because if they do they are deemed "girly". There is a whole bunch of things that men are not allowed to do because they are men and people deem those things inappropriate for men to do. But hey, men get to go to school and make a lot of money, right? This must make up for it. They should feel lucky, right?
There are different kinds of oppression, and I don't believe getting more societal privledges makes up for the kind of emotional torture that men have had to endure through societal conditioning. Now, the same thing is being applied to women too, and its even more confusing to them: Women, act ladylike, or no man will ever want to be with you. Shave your legs, have long hair, wear makeup and sexy clothing, be weak and skinny and allow yourself to be dominated BUT you also have to be strong, take charge, use your body to get what you want, control men and be superior to them in every way, make just enough money as they do etc. Contradictory, to say the least.
Changing societal pressures does not mean being the opposite of everything your gender has traditionally been, its being who you are and following your own heart despite what others would rather have for you.
Accept yourself for everything that you are, embrace your thoughts, feelings, actions, holdups, likes, dislikes, the way you look. Embrace your humanity. Its not about whether or not you are male or female or anything between or outside of those things. You are a human and should be allowed to be as such.
