First, gender is a concept made up by men, sort of like the idea of time-- it keeps everything orderly and pigeonholed, but it doesn't really have any logical reasoning behind it. It's a huge spectrum. Female and male doesn't begin to cover it. Transgender, genderfluid, and agender all exist, too. So I just wanted to point out that gender is much bigger than male and female. (And by the way, none of these have to do with a person's sexuality, either: gender is who you are, and your sexuality is who you are attracted to.)
And now, male and female stereotypes. I understand that men are also sometimes stereotyped. And I hate that men aren't seen as emotional, or think they have to work out to be conventionally attractive, or something, but if you EVER believe that male stereotypes are more hurtful than female, you are KIDDING yourself. And you are living in ignorance.
Female stereotypes- weak, docile women who are never in control. Never leaders. Don't have the brains or bodies to hold power. Only exist for male satisfaction, or servitude, or anything. This thinking is what has created rape culture. This thinking is the reason that every two minutes a person is sexually assaulted. This thinking is the reason girls ages 16-19 are FOUR TIMES MORE LIKELY than the general population to be victims of sexual assault (x). While some men are tired of trying to act tough, thousands of women are being assaulted and killed every day because of what we call misogyny. Why? Because boys have not been taught that respect and consent are basic human rights. Because people ask questions like "What was she wearing?" Because women who are assaulted are scared to go to police for help. Because people think "the friendzone" is A REAL THING. Because women who choose to have sex are sluts but women who choose not to are prudes. Because of the lengths media and pop culture will go to to promote objectification. Because women are suffering and the men who are the cause do not seem to care.
Women are not objects. A woman is not a "piece of ass" or a "She's got a nice rack". Women are people. Women are complex, and layered, and so, so different from each other. Strong, sensitive, funny, angry, brave, cowardly, neat, messy, nervous, tough, heroic, evil, well-rounded, real.
Women are important. And women have nothing to do with men's expectations.
I love this post. I hate that women are so often targeted negatively in society and feel like they have to 'live up to' expectations to be important. I did my senior research paper over sexual assault and was amazed at the statistics for women. Women are important and need to be respected. Great post.
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