When you're born a girl. You are
restricted and why? I couldn’t tell you. As a woman, I am told how to act and
what to wear to be identified as a woman, and I don’t know where they came
from. It feels so natural to be like a woman and behave like one but why? Men
become men when they realize that they aren’t supposed to cry and they aren’t supposed
to whine; that is a woman’s job. Men are told things like, “you fight like a
girl” or “you run like a girl.” When was being a girl an insult? It took me
until recently to realize that women weren't paid the same as a man for an
equal job. The truth is, I didn't realize anything about gender equality until
this year. People trick you into thinking that gender inequality is a third
world country problem. But it's an everyday problem.
As Emma Watson stated, feminism is
given a bad name. It means that you want equality for all genders. And I do. Men
feel they have to be masculine while women assume they have to be girly and
prissy. I have discovered that in ancient text, a woman was the most
important thing. She was the all-knowing creature. Achilles turned to his
mother for advice; Shamhat, the prostitute from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was the
dream interpreter. Women were valued and important; they were the ones who
could civilize people because they were so knowledgeable. And then the Bible
was born. The Bible turned many people against woman. The woman became the one
who should be punished with child bearing. Women were given restrictions on how
to dress and how to act correctly and “like a lady.” When you raise your
children, you give them gender roles that they have to identify with. Little
girls get Barbie dolls and little boys get toy cars, etc. When did these toys
become associated with a girl or a boy?
Women are convinced that they have to
look a certain way to please others and fit in. There is a new trend “the thigh
gap” that has beautiful women feeling like they have to be perfect to be wanted
or seen. The truth is, beauty is in every form. A thigh gap or a perfect body
doesn’t define beauty; beauty is defined by who you are. I understand why
people feel this way because when you go to try on clothes, there is a perfect
girl in a picture on the wall in the clothes you just tried on, did I mention
looking perfect? All I do is remember that Photoshop may be a factor. I don’t agree with Photoshop because flaws are
what make people unique and beautiful and dare I say, different. Differences
are what show me I am human; flaws show me I am human.
When a sex crime is committed to a woman;
she is faced with questions of why it happened? What were you wearing? Were you
provoking that person by being too skimpy? Or did you provoke them by just
walking by. When a man has had a sex crime committed to them... are they
questioned like women are? The answer is no. They are treated like the victim
and not the reason they are raped. The thing that bothers me the most, is
that rape is mostly associated with women and we forget that men get raped too.
We forget that men are not always the strong one. They are forced into thinking
that crying is wrong and maybe they even feel that rape makes them weak.
In conclusion, I am for the equality
of all genders. I don’t believe that there should be a set way for each gender.
I wish men were behind feminists. I want people to realize that there is gender
inequality and it doesn’t only apply to women. Men are made to feel like they
have to be a certain way and women are convinced they have to act a same way as
well.
Taylor<3
