Facts and Events: Women’s Roles and Gender
In a very interesting book that I am reading presently, I came across some facts and events that were listed right in the first page, and I thought you might be interested in them. Consider the following facts and events that happened between 1986 and 1996 carefully:
- A judge in Rome, Italy, ruled against the victim in a rape case on the grounds that it is impossible to rape a woman wearing jeans, because they cannot be removed without her cooperation. In protest, women worldwide staged a “skirt strike,” wearing jeans to work.
- One in four U.S college students believed that the activities of married women should be limited to home and family.
- The Reverend Jerry Falwell claimed that a popular children’s toy, the “Tinky Winky Teletubby,” is an attempt to make children into homosexuals because it is purple and carries a “purse.”
- Women have been heads of state in twenty-three countries around world, yet in others they lack basic human rights such as voting and going to school.
- Women remained far more likely than men to suffer from serious depression and eating disorders.
- Less than 5 percent of the artists in New York’s Metropolitan Museum collections were women, but 85 percent of the nude paintings were of females.
- On television news, 97 percent of the anchors over the age of forty were men.
Crawford, Mary and Rhoda Unger. Women and Gender: A Feminist Psychology. 3rd ed. Fairfield: McGraw-Hill, 2000.
The authors then said that “gender, sexuality, and power are at the core of social controversies around the world,” and I strongly agree with that. But do tell me, what do you think?
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January 24th, 2007 at 11:35 am
<p>“Gender, sexuality, and power are at the core of social controversies around the world,”
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<p>Well, i have to agree with that because actually nothing was left out :)<br /><br />I guess this is the half empty-half full issue; it depends on your perspective, like the fact that 97 percent of the anchors over the age of forty were men…well; I might say that 97% of anchors <strong>below</strong> the age of forty are females! Besides when a women hits 40 she is forty till forever, she won’t admit her real age for a statistical study :)</p>
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<p>"Women remained far more likely than men to suffer from serious depression and eating disorders." I wonder why !!! </p></p>
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January 24th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
<p>One of the blogs I read sporadically is written by a young Saudi girl. In a recent post, she wailed about how "Chivalry is Dead". One of her commenters told her that the feminists killed it.<br /><br />Perhaps so. I do know one thing - if I had it all to do over again, I would STILL consider that:<br /><br />equal pay for equal work, <br />the right to vote, <br />the right to own my own property, <br />the right to make my own decisions, <br />the right to education, <br />the right to freedom of movement and freedom of choice, <br />the right to decide for myself who to marry, or when, or if, <br />the right to say NO, <br />the right to dress and eat and do as I wish, <br />the right to a profession <br />the right to be a HUMAN BEING, and not PROPERTY <br /><br />would STILL be more important to me than having some dork open the door and bow as I pass thru.</p>
<p>Someone said to me that "Door holding, yes ma’am and sir, please and thank you are valuable courtesies. I think if more people honored them, you’d see more of your list honored."</p>
<p>My answer to that is this:</p>
<p>Unfortunately, history teaches us that when men were expected to do these things - not swearing in front of ladies, not adjusting the "family jewels" in front of ladies, removing your hat, opening doors, relinquishing your seat, etc., women were treated as property and not allowed those things on my list. <br /><br />We were expected to have no higher ambition than to be some man’s unpaid house-slave and sextoy, for the "honor" of being their "wife".<br /><br />If we ran away from an abusive situation, we were branded as sexually promiscuious and "damaged goods" and had essentially two career options available - sweatshop labor, or prostitute.<br /><br />And all this VERY strongly supported and encouraged by the Christian Church. ("Wives, submit to your husbands in all things, as to the Lord" - thank you, Saul of Tarsus)<br /><br />I’m not a feminist. I am a humanist. I don’t believe that your plumbing should affect anything other than the position in which you use the bathroom to remove liquid waste. I don’t believe that gender should be a determining factor in anything other than personal sexual preference and restroom facility selection.</p>
<p>Oh, and Bashar? I’m 50.</p>
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January 24th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
<p class="MsoNormal">You know Sewmouse, I could not agree more. One of the things
that irritate and offend me the most is when society or the powers that be
brand a woman who speaks up defending her very basic human rights in such
negative light, making her equal to some criminal of some sort.<br /><br />
I often engage in heated discussions on women’s roles and gender with male
counterparts. Most usually fail to understand where I am coming from, and some
do not even recognize what women want as basic human rights. This latter type
is very rigid when dealing with gender issues, they use absolutes
"must" and "must not," as if they play God.<br /><br />
It is considerably difficult some times to try to speak to people rationally,
prejudice and stereotypes aside, about women’s issues. Some people are quick at
branding me (or you, or anyone who speaks of this) as a "feminist"
and not as a "humanist." They usually even say that in a specific way
that intends to make any speaker as if they are being too "mean,"
"sensitive," or "complicated." Of course, in reality, it is
not complicated at all. It is this reception of the simple demands of women
that wants them to feel like they are asking for too much.</p>
Thus ends my rant. I have a lot more to say on this though, thank you for reading!<br />
January 26th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Yoko Ono (of all people) said it best:<br /><br />"Woman is the n****r of the world".<br /><br />Half the population, one percent of wealth.<br />A word that infuriates me: Post-feminism. How can it be Post, when the struggle is still continuing?!<br />
January 27th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
The term post-feminism is inaccurate, Safiya. I agree with you. I plan to post some more in-depth/controversial entries on women over here and I hope you will join in the discussion. Welcome to Tololy’s Box.