25 Nov 2012
Burden of Gender
Dear Readers:
Discrimination
against women has been a reality for thousands of years. Lack of birth control
and lack of economic power due to limited opportunities for education have kept
women in a subordinate position in society. Throughout history men have held
the reins of power because men are more aggressive than women and they want
control. Men want power, men are bigger and stronger. Biologically men are more aggressive than
women. Men commit 90% of violent crime. Economic problems that were caused by
the great recession have speeded up the process of the decline of male
dominance in the western world. The
shift in power is affecting men’s ability to accept women in positions of power
at work. Today you see women in high positions of power that you did not see
fifty years ago. Change is bound to happen because women now have more access
to higher education in the west. The
world is changing its view slowly towards women. However, this is not so true
non western countries. The laws in the west guarantee that men and women are
equal.
According to the author Reihan Salam, male dominance is
beginning to decline. Male dominance has been declining in the West. However,
the economic problems caused by the great recession, have speeded up the
process. “More than 80% of job losses in the United States since November have fallen
on men, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor statistics.” At the same time,
women are becoming more and more educated. This shift in power will force men
to accept women in positions of power at the work place. The collapse in the
housing market put many lower skilled males like construction workers out of
work. Jobs in construction and manufacturing won’t disappear, but they will
make up a smaller percentage of the economy. Western countries are somewhat
more open to allow women into positions of power. This is not the case in most
third world countries like Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. With this great
recession women have suffered more than men because they tend to get paid less
and have less economic control.
In the
past, for example, in the Great Depression men wanted to be the breadwinners
and women were kept out of the work force. I think because of the
industrialization of the world there are more jobs available. In turn there are
more appliances available to women to make their lives easier. We have ovens,
stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, and mass manufacturing of clothing.
All of the wars in the nineteen hundreds caused women to pick up the slack and
work outside of the home. In 1920 women were first allowed to vote here in the
United States of America.
Women have
gradually become more educated. In fact, more women graduate from college than
do men. More opportunities have opened up to them. With more financial
instability all over the world, combined with women’s greater access to
education, change is bound to happen. These changes are happening more quickly
in the western world. Even so, change is beginning to happen like in India.
People are beginning to question the old concepts of a woman’s place in
society. Today it is just as likely that the woman is the bread winner. Some
men will embrace women as equals while others will resist change.
I think
that the movement towards women’s equality will take place at a much slower
rate in third world countries. There are many countries in which the female has
been in a subordinate position for thousands of years. Today’s battlefield will
take place culturally. In non western countries this will take a long time
because of the weight of tradition. The more educated that men and women become
the more that they will realize that they are equal in every way. As women
become more financially powerful this will decrease the burden on men
economically. If men don’t have to carry women around economically there will
be less friction between the sexes.
I
think the world is changing its view towards women. There are many factors
including gender, race, and religion that determine people’s view towards
gender. Here in America men and women are treated as equals according to our
constitution and laws. How are people equalized in our society? How is it
enforced? Now men and women have the right to vote. Men and women can both be in the military,
and women are now allowed to fight and be in danger. Today’s laws apply both
equally to men and women. Today’s laws apply to the abled and disabled. If you commit murder you will get the same
sentence whether you can walk, or if you can’t walk, whether you can hear, or
can’t hear, and if you’re blind or not blind.
Our constitution insures that people are treated equally.
On
a biological level, males are more aggressive than females. Therefore, I think there will always be
friction between the sexes. However, the issue of empowerment of women is
critical for society to go to the next level. This will happen to the extent
that women become educated. The human
race has been around for two million years. However, civilizations have been
around for 10 to 11 thousand years. Third world countries are called third world
countries for a reason. This is because they are backwards in many ways and
their belief systems are very primitive. The empowerment of women is critical
for civilization to evolve to a higher level.
In
the story of “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”, written by Jean Kilbourne. In
this short story the author talks about sex in advertizing. Kilborne states “We
believe we are not affected by these images, but most of us experience visceral
shock when we pay conscious attention to them. Could they be any less shocking
to us on an unconscious level.” I agree with the author that provocative images
are shocking on a conscious and on an unconscious level. The reason that
business has provocative advertising is because they are trying to pitch a
sale. They use seductive images and words in the media because sex sales.
I
think that it is important that women become educated and take care of
themselves so that they don’t find themselves in the position of being
victimized. Today certain adds, television shows, and movies make women out to
be objects. Also pornography and music videos exploit women and turn them into
objects. Kilbourne states “Although these ads are often funny. It is never a
good thing for human beings to be objectified.” It is shocking to see men
against women violent ads. There is an ad showing a man holding a gun to a
woman’s head above this ad it says bitch. This ad is questionable. It seems like companies will do anything to
boost sales.
There
is a big difference on how men and women are treated. Women are portrayed as
seductive. Women are made vulnerable because they are looked on as sexual
objects. There is more violence today because their bodies are being
sexualized. Sad to say there is a lot of violence against women these days.
Today’s society has an enormous appetite for sex.
Next
Kilbourne talks about sexualization of girls and boys under the age of 17. Men in Japan are exploiting school girl
fantasies, because they are threatened by how smart and powerful women are.
This is why education is important for the young that way they are not
exploited. There is a picture of a model posing naked on a couch she was
portrayed to look 12 even though she was 20. Kate Moss said about this Calvin
Klein ad “I look twelve.” Kate Moss is
admitting that this ad was not normal. What this ad did was boost sales for
Calvin Klein even though it was inappropriate.
Children
are harassing each other in and out of school. Words are not harmless they can
cause permanent damage and leave lifelong scares. The teasing and harassment
that our parents went through when they were in school is different then what
we went through, and different that what teens are going through today. “A 1993
report by the American Association of University Women found that 76 percent of
female students in grades eight to eleven and 56 percent of male students said
they had been sexually harassed in school. In my opinion the person that you
were when you were young has a lot to do with who you are now.
Annotated Bibliography
“Gender Roles in America.” Web. Sun. 18 Nov. 2012
Over the last 50 years there has
been a large shift with regards to the position of women and men in society.
Women have more opportunities for higher education and more job choices. Women
have more choices in the outside world while at the same time they still have
the traditional duties of caring for the home and for the family. The author
states that men conduct themselves in a more aggressive way. According to the
author, women do not yet feel comfortable being assertive. However, I believe
this is because women often have a different style of communication. It is a
fact that in the past, that woman was treated as a second class citizen. Men
have not willingly given up their economic power and control. This is
definitely true today. Nor did they want to let women into institutions of
higher learning until relatively modern times. They first let women into
colleges in the mid 1800’s, but they were confined to certain jobs like nursing
and teaching.
Pretice,
Deborah and Carraza.pdf. What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn’t Be, Are
Allowed To Be, and Don’t Have To Be: The Contents Of Prescriptive Gender
Stereotypes.” Web. Sun. 18 Nov. 2012
This article contains a lot of
statistical analysis. It is a pdf and it is scientific. For that reason it is a
very dry article, although it does have a good some good insights. “The
qualities they (stereotypes) given to men and women are the ones that tend to
be required of them. “ Some of the traditional values assigned to men and women
are actually positive. For women to be kind and compassionate is a strength.
For a male to be assertive and independent is a strength, also. These are
stereotypes, but I think these qualities apply to both men and women. I think
there is a blurring of gender roles these days to a certain extent.
Hayes,
Jeffrey. pdf. “The Impact of Gender Role Conflect and Counseling Technique on
Psychological Help Seeking in Men.” Web. Sun. 18 Nov. 2012
For men, traditional roles have
both a positive as well as a negative side. The positive side of the more
traditional male roles is to be self-confident and assertive. The other side of
this role is that men can be self-destructive and increased levels of stress.
They may be less concerned about taking care of their health and less
emotionally aware. The problem is that they are taught to be this way. However,
with time, as a man matures he is more capable of sensitivity in relationships.
The mature woman is more capable of moving effectively in the world
professionally. The whole issue of gender is very complicated and I think that
men and women are evolving to develop some of the characteristics of the
opposite sex. Organized society is only ten thousand years old and evolution is
something that goes on not only on a biological level but also on a inner level
of awareness.
Yours Truly;
Adrian Martino
