This post is about why I think empowering women is essential for a fairer world. If that makes me a feminist in your mind, then so be it. But I hope to change your mind, or at least get you thinking. So what's so special about women? And why would I (a man) have to say about them? First, I have to caution that despite my utmost caution, I may phrase things in a way that may offend certain sensibilities - inevitable in such unusual topics - so if you found any part badly formulated, please let me know.
To begin with, we live in a patrist society. Men have power. Traditions and ideas of the past are maintained as much as possible with little change. One can also term this conservatism. Other elements of a patrist society include restricting impulses and creativity, aggressiveness and distrust of emotions. Think of the way the Catholic Church ran things in the middle ages, it epitomizes the idea I'm trying to convey.
Now, we are obviously not a male-dominated society in the same way as it once was in Western society. But, we are far from being the opposite (matrist), which isn't necessarily ideal either.
Now that those notions have been presented, I want to draw attention to the effects on women that living in such a society has. This has to do with how women are still in some ways influenced into playing the submissive or supportive role in a relationship (or "expressive role" as the now stern-faced sociologists would have me say). But where is this influence coming from? Surely women wouldn't willingly agree to play second fiddle to men when in nearly every other aspect of society they're finally managing to catch up? The influence comes from our culture: art, media, interactions, and fashion to name a few. By making it desirable for women to be thin but curvaceous, innocent but experienced and reserved but seductive, we (the West) have created a double standard which continues to confuse women. Why? Because it is impossible to attain. Or at least, if one still wants to be an individual in one's own right and not a Barbie Doll for any man to play with.
On top of this, women are taught to be consumers, more so than men (although this is also changing). Look through your average magazine. Compare the number of products clearly advertised for women as opposed to men. Also compare the space the ad takes up and compare. Unless you're reading Gentlman's Quarterly, you should notice the astounding difference. Because women also earn less on average, their dependence on men for finances is maintained and even heightened by the conspicuous consumption (a nod to the sociologists) that we have pushed women into.
This paints a grim picture of how we still consider women today: objects of desire, to be molded and manipulated to fit a certain aesthetic appealing to men. But is it appealing? Or are men also being taught to be something? Dominant and aggressive perhaps? Taught to be strong and insensitive, confident and active perhaps? This pressure is present, but the emphasis on the hard-to-maintain (at least for most) lean body is not as strong.
My objective here was mostly to bring attention to how we still treat women in a society that often claims to treat men and women equally. But if you read this far, you'll indulge me one last comment.
The reason we should empower women is because when women play a larger role in a group or a state, they tend to organize resources towards improving things like education, health and having clean environments as well as other things which allow people to live a higher standard of living. The UN has made gender equality and making the world a good place to be for women one of its 8 Millennium Development Goals. Just some food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment