One thing that I have noticed more clearly in this class, is that there are persistent inequalities, that are being worked on, but there are still plenty of people that are not that interested in looking at an issue from someone else's point of view. One of those things is about objectification, and how some men do not see women as humans, but as objects. This of course is not necessarily only done by men on women.
Sexual harassment is sometimes the objectification of women. And it is not a small problem. If 83% of girls from kindergarten to 12th grade have experienced sexual harassment, there is a problem, likely with the perception of women and girls in our culture. Part of that might be to blame of the media, and other entertainment, that seems to think that women have to be perfect at everything that they attempt to do. And if they are not successful at those things, they are a sexual object. Especially if you look at ads. Now one of the problems with looking at sexual harassment and violence, a lot of people seem to want to blame the victim. They dressed inappropriately, they drank to much, they went somewhere that they should not have. Why say that? They were not asking to get assaulted, someone else decided that they thought they could get away with it. And there is a lack of reporting those incidents, because no one wants to have other people blame them, for something like that.
To go along with the idea that people need to dress a certain way, if you listen to the news, people, but women especially, need to look flattering, and pleasant. Not tough, or willing to fight back if you piss them off, that is how men are supposed to look, according to some people. That is not just part of how people dress, but also how they act; tough, submissive, ect.
Let us take a look at politics now. There are a bunch of old white guys, who are also wealthy, who are wanting to make rules that regulate women's health and lives, based on those men's ideas of how the world should work.
So they want to focus on something that people would generally consider to be between a person and their doctor. Alright, evidently they do not feel like working on issues like the pay gap, poverty, inequalities due to race or class, unequal access and costs of health care, or other such issues. Or keeping our government running.
It might also be noted that the Catholic church seems to be having some similar issues right now, as they are trying to convince, or investigate, nun's work. Now the nuns are working with the poor and the people that need help, while the male controlled bureaucracy is more interested in whether gay marriage should be allowed, than people who are suffering from poor pay.
I read something awhile ago, that said that feminism could not just deal with women's issues, but all social issues, because each issue can not be looked at just by itself, but also along with the other factors that contribute to it as well. That seems to be true, as I keep trying to go off on tangents.
articles you might want to look at-
feminism
-http://www.salon.com/2012/06/21/can_modern_women_have_it_all/singleton/
Schrodinger's Rapist
-http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/
abortions and contraception
-http://www.alternet.org/visions/155960/abortions_have_made_life_better_for_millions_of_men%3A_it%27s_about_time_to_speak_up_in_support_/
-http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/20/502947/abortion-rate-drops/?mobile=nc
Good points about the government and the Catholic church having their priorities wrong. To me, both of those dynamics and how they treat women are part of a broader trend by white men to impose rules that will maintain their own power structures. I think a lot of straight, white, christian men feel threatened by the growing power of women, non-whites, non-christians, and homosexuals. Because they are still in places of power predominantly, they are making moves to impose laws and rules that will protect their places of privilege.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to undermine these positions of power and continue to seek out a fairer, more equal society.