Rights hmm.
Women’s Womyn’s Rights
Throughout history women have been thought of as subordinate to men; the weaker sex. With the exception of some very ancient societies, most cultures of yesteryear and those of today are undeniably patriarchal. Christianity is the foundation of the cultural morals of our society and the bible is the blueprint from which those morals are interpreted and transcribed. [Clicky to continue]
The Old Testament is riddled with example after example of how women are lesser to men, owned by men and exist for a man’s pleasure. It’s very easy for anyone who believes in gender equality at all to look at history and other cultures in present day and become angered by the gross oppression, objectification and abuse inflicted upon the female gender. 1848 is dog-eared as a significant moment in the women’s rights history with the first women’s right convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Over the past 165 years, many strides have been made toward the equality of women. Still, it seems that after such a long fight to gain equal status, today, women are treated as the lesser sex. Objectification, violence against women, abortion issues and wage gap are only a few of the problems that we in the United States need to overcome; worldwide is a completely different animal altogether. Yet there is argument; some believe we in the U.S. have come much farther than feminists and avid equality supporters may want to admit.
Many of today’s ardent feminists feel that we as a society have only come so far and that media, industry, and family morals teach people to view females as lesser than males. Some accusations are obvious and can be either proven or disproven with facts and statistics; wage gap and violence against women are examples of this. But some women’s rights activists believe there are deeper, more subtle issues that deal with social norms and everyday language, which keeps us believing women are inferior to men without even realizing it. Innocently used terms, such as “you guys,” “layman,” and slang like “she was knocked up,” is language that is demoralizing to women and has sexist connotations. “Can you think of one, just one, example of a female-based generic? Try using ‘freshwoman’ with a group of male students or calling your male boss ‘chairwoman.’ Then again, don't. There could be serious consequences for referring to a man as a ‘woman’ -- a term that still means ‘lesser’ in our society” (Imbornoni). When a person uses male specific pronouns and titles while referring to a female or a group that is a mix of the genders, it is considered to be a sexist use of language, whether it is done consciously or unconsciously. The language we use is a product of our society; common phrases and slang that innocently place men in a station above that of women is proof that we need to be conscious of everything we say so that sexual discrimination is no longer a normalized part of how we communicate. At what point is that taken too far, are we to walk on eggshells around everyone we communicate with? Eventually doesn’t that lead to a society that is forcing people to lock up their personality and the way in which they express themselves, so as not to offend some possible unknown person?
Words have incredible power and on an emotional level can be as damaging as physical abuse. It is difficult enough to get out of a relationship with a single person who belittles, bullies and oppresses, what do you do when it is all of society? There is absolutely no denying that the feminist movement still has many battles ahead, but how much of the problem is actually going on in present day and how much is hold over from past offenses. In today’s workforce it is said that women only make about 77 cents to every man’s dollar. It’s suggested that at the rate at which the gap is closing it could take as long as another four decades to catch up, but in an article by Forbes magazine it’s suggested that the gap might not be as wide and clear cut as it first appears. “Conservative groups like the Independent Women’s Forum have also gotten in touch with me and insisted that the 77-cent number is a misleading statistic that doesn’t take into account education levels, experience and the sorts of jobs men take versus women” (Adams). If there is argument with hard factual differences, what about the more subtle language issues? Is using the term “mankind” truly detrimental toward the fight for equality? It is possible that getting caught up in such small menial things is distracting from the bigger picture or even worse forcing women into a role of victim in which they never wanted to be? Feeling the need to be hyper-conscious about what one says, all the time, causes awkwardness in relationships. Is it possible that feminists want to stay in the role of victim because without it there is no cause to fight? It is impossible to cater to everyone; depending on a person’s views my very existence could be offensive.
It seems to me that the fight for women’s rights is still a legitimate cause even with huge changes in favor of equality, but I think battles should be approached wisely. Things are changing, but extreme views that seem to deny any progress can anger not only those of whom the fight is against, but an audience that is on the fence. It’s the people who exist in that grey area that will eventually make the tides change.
Imbornoni , Ann-Marie. “Timeline of Key Events in the American Women's Rights Movement 1848-1920” Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
Adams, Susan. “Are Women Catching Up in Pay?” Forbes Magazine, Web 4/09/2013 @ 2:56PM. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/04/09/are-women-catching-up-in-pay/