Cooper Street Scarlet Review

Normalize the F Word

Feminism in a Modern World

Marina Mikheil

A girl growing up should never have to limit her dreams of becoming a leader solely because of her gender, nor should she limit her abilities just so she could maintain the weak image women are given.
Mirrored Self
Mirrored Self, Claudia Biddle

Throughout history, the U.S. has grown to adopt many different values and beliefs in society. Following the first-wave of feminism during the 19th century when women won the fight for the right to vote, women have continued to fight on the grounds of political, social and economic power for equality to men. Ambiguous towards the movement, society tends to associate feminists with men-hating women seeking attention for unnecessary reasons. Nevertheless, women find the need to fight for their movement today because inequality is still present and it still lacks the attention and awareness it should receive.

It has been established that the national gender wage gap for women lies around seventy-seven cents for every dollar a man makes; merely for the reason that women are associated with low-income professions such as teaching, nursing or secretary/assistant. A recent study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that male nurses earn $5,100 more, on average, than their female colleagues who hold similar positions ("The Other Wage Gap"). Although women voluntarily choose to go into those certain careers with an open mind of the wages they’ll be earning, the workplace today lacks equal representation of men and women in various professions along with unequal pay. Based on the careers listed above, society associates women with groupings of professions that relate with being a caregiver, practicing a set of duties that a mom would be responsible for. Although when comparing some of the professions men go into, for example, engineering, management or politics; those certain professions exercise the hierarchy that men belong to for the high status jobs they hold. Nevertheless, society classifies certain professions based on the gender assigned for the position.

There’s a sociological theory called “the glass ceiling” which is used to describe the barrier that keeps women and minorities from advancing in a profession. Meaning that in a male-dominated workplace, a woman will never be able to rise up any higher than her male colleagues. Thus, if one would take a moment to think about the upcoming presidential election and the candidates, how much of a chance would Hillary Clinton really have at winning? Besides the fact that she represents the Democratic Party and may share different views than other political parties, what makes her any less capable to run a country than the other male democratic candidates? As of August 2015, it has been known that only 22% of all national parliamentarians are females; verifying that the U.S. Government does not see most women fit to hold a leadership title ("Facts and Figures"). Nevertheless, other than being incapable of reaching a high status in the political stands, women are not given much attention in the business world either. For according to the author of "Women CEOs of the S&P 500" out of the top fortune 500 companies, women currently hold only 4.4% of the CEO positions. This statistic portrays how in a given situation, although both genders are qualified for such a position, the man has a greater chance at moving up the corporate hierarchy.

When shifting to other cases of gender discrimination, it’s been acknowledged that masculinity is based on the biological sex and that men are naturally stronger ("FAQ:But Men and Women"). Therefore, they take more of an advantage in certain sports than women. Despite the fact that women share their own advantages of being more flexible and graceful in their athletic abilities, they are still looked at as weak when participating in any sport. For that reason, it explains why people have been debating whether cheerleading is a sport or not. The Always “Like A Girl” commercial portrays the stereotype of doing something ‘like a girl’, showing how society views women as weak and clumsy and emphasizing that it’s an actual insult if somebody compares one to a girl.

On the other hand, football is the most well-known sport in the country that gets almost everyone worked up as if it was a holiday every Sunday. So one would assume just how expensive college football tickets are, but what about the unisex sports and how do their ticket prices compare for both men and women? As I analyze the prices for both men and women’s basketball games at Rutgers University, a Division I school, there seems to be a distinction between the different price ranges. When purchasing tickets for the men’s game, the prices vary from $12 to $65 meanwhile the tickets for the women’s game vary from $10 to $25 ("Scarletknights.com"). One would wonder why the price ranges are so distinct considering they represent the same division school. Yet it portrays just how much percentage of the audience pays attention to the women’s team when contrasting with the men’s team in college.

With regards to awareness, the media takes credit for putting the spotlight on the feminist movement though it may have spurred controversies. “Mass media being exposed to feminists has generated hate towards anyone who even dares to label themselves a feminist, but also makes it easier for people who are not truly feminists to claim the label” ("Feminism"). For a movement that receives tough criticism daily, its supporters tend to hide their opinions just so they don’t lose respect from what they call their “followers” on the media. On the contrary, it seems that a woman’s sexual appearance is the only thing that gets praised for in today’s media. Tyra Banks, the first black Victoria Secret’s Angel, takes a stance on feminism and what it means to her, claiming that women should not have to apologize for being too strong or high in power for their success (Bustle). Tyra is an advocate for women of color, a Harvard Business School graduate, and a feminist, yet only widely known for her beauty and praised for her supermodel abilities.

Living in the 21st century, technology and the media take a big part in our lives. They convey different kinds of information to the public such as news, events going on, as well topics that are trending; however, that can have both a positive and a negative impact when spreading information on certain topics such as feminism. Most would agree with how most people on social media view feminists as man-hating and tend to give off false interpretations of what the purpose of the feminist movement is for. Other than the false analyzation that the movement receives, it tends to be targeted often on social media sites such as Twitter by an anti-feminist page called, “The Meninist” which criticizes women for starting their movement. Rather than sticking up for a movement that fights for both men and women, the misogynous Twitter page misses the feminists’ claim, believing that the movement advocates only one gender while spreading false evidence.

A girl growing up should never have to limit her dreams of becoming a leader solely because of her gender, nor should she limit her abilities just so she could maintain the weak image women are given.

The movement is not intended to discriminate nor target men but rather to fight for both genders; for Emma Watson advocates in her “He for She” speech, "It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals" ("Home-He for She"). People tend to selectively think of feminists as men-hating women who take no part in supporting any action of men. Yet as Watson mentions in her speech, gender equality is a fight that both genders should take part in. She acknowledges the different aspects that feminism focuses on which view how masculinity has limited men and made it harder for them to report their rapes, talk about their feelings or report any illnesses ("Home-He for She"). She recognizes these assumptions merely to emphasize that a feminist doesn’t necessarily have to be a woman calling to action her own gender’s struggles.

When shifting to other countries that lack gender equality, it seems that countries in the Middle East are stricter on women and purposely make them feel intimidated by men. As most have heard of her, Malala Yousafzai is an education advocate in a northwestern district in Pakistan, where the Taliban have restricted women from going to school. As she protested her thoughts and fears on a blog, Malala’s voice became heard all over the world. In 2011, she was awarded with Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize, but in response to her high recognition, she received death threats from the Taliban. Shot with a single bullet in the head, Malala was in critical condition but was discharged from the hospital three months after her incident. Once the world had heard of the attack, over two million people signed a Right to Education Petition, resulting in the National Assembly ratifying Pakistan's first Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill (The Malala Fund). Thus, it seems that because women in the U.S. are more privileged to have the right to education, they don’t realize how fortunate they are to not have to worry about risking their lives in order to better their knowledge; nor are they aware of the worse cases of gender inequalities.

Based on the multiple cases of gender discrimination listed, it goes to show that women are not treated with the same measure of respect as men. There are so many instances where women are discriminated or looked down upon but it’s never seen as an issue and that is the real problem. Whether it be inequality in the workplace, sports, media or education, unfair treatment will always be considered as prejudiced. A girl growing up should never have to limit her dreams of becoming a leader solely because of her gender nor should she limit her abilities just so she could maintain the weak image women are given. Addressing the issue is the first step for wanting to achieve that equality in order for people to be aware and expand their knowledge. We should be doing so by promoting feminism, not keeping it down. There’s no reason for someone to hate on a movement that upholds equality between the genders while such problems are occurring.

Works Cited

"Bustle." Bustle. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bustle.com/articles/44853-tyra-banks-is-a-feminist-her-message-on-the-subject-is-inspirational>.

"Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation." HeadQuarters. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures>.

"Feminism, Social Media, and You." The Odyssey. N.p., 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://theodysseyonline.com/west-virginia/feminism-social-media-and-you/147846>.

"Home - HeForShe." HeForShe. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.heforshe.org/>.

"The Malala Fund." The Malala Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <https://www.malala.org/malalas-story>.

"The Other Wage Gap: Why Men In Female-Dominated Industries Still Earn More." Fast Company. N.p., 08 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3044753/strong-female-lead/the-other-wage-gap-why-men-in-women-dominated-industries-still-earn-more>.

"Women CEOs of the S&P 500." Catalyst. N.p., 03 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/women-ceos-sp-500>.

"SCARLETKNIGHTS.COM - Official Athletic Site." SCARLETKNIGHTS.COM - Official Athletic Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015. <http://www.scarletknights.com/tickets/>.

"FAQ: But Men and Women Are Born Different! Isn’t That Obvious?" Finally A Feminism 101 Blog. N.p., 10 May 2007. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.