It's no secret that dress codes are pretty much a necessity for every school even they don't have a uniform. It's also not a secret that these dess codes and 'uniform policies' police women's bodies. It seems to be every other day that I read some article about a teenage girl sent home in disgrace becausue her shoulders were showing and that would 'distract the male students'.
Here's why that's problematic:
1) It enforces the idea that 'boys will be boys' and can't be held responsible for their actions if a girl is wearing revealing clothing and she is sexually assaulted. This promotes victim blaming.
2) It promotes the concept that what a girl wears is more important than how she uses her brain. This objectifies women.
3) It's humiliating - especially if you're a teenage girl. You're going though puberty - breasts are developing for one thing and a top you wore 2 months ago when you were still an A-cup now just accentuates your chest and some 'teachers' see that as inappropriate and vilify you for having a body that is going through female puberty and is a fact of life.
4) IT PROMOTES THE IDEA THAT A BOY'S EDUCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A GIRL'S.
It is blatant sexism and everyone knows it. It's gender discrimantion in most cases, a typical male versus female debate in which the man almost always comes out on top because society is so deeply rooted within the patriarchy that we value a boy's education over a girl's.
My favourite reason though has to be when a teenage girl at a public high school in America got sent home after her t-shirt was 'distracting' to male teachers because it was deemed 'too revealing' and by that they mean 'it didn't cover every part of her bare skin'. Surely a teacher is professional enough not to be distracted by a teenage girl's body?
In retaliation to these incidents, a twitter hashtag #IAmMoreThanADistraction was trending and set tongues wagging - because girls are more than a distraction. We are human beings with developing bodies, a brain like any other person on the planet and a voice to speak out on any discrimination - gender or otherwise.
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Tuesday 1 September 2015
Pop Culture Tuesday - Stop Victim Blaming
In light of Chrissy Hynde's comments about rape victims and that f they "dress provocatively" or they're "drunk" then it's their fault if they are raped or sexually assaulted. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Blaming victims of sexual assault for their actions before the assault took place i.e. drinking alcohol is common practice. The victim is rarely believed in a court of law if they had been drinking because many defence lawyers will use that as an excuse - that the victim is most likely ashamed of having had sex while drunk and their testimonies are sometimes shaky as opposed to the perpetrator's.
Another incident where people love to blame the victim of sexual assault is when it comes down to what the victim was wearing - especially if the victim was, as Chrissy Hynde put it, "dressed provocatively" and an ide is passed and believed that the victim was 'asking for it' - that they were asking to be raped!
NO ONE IS ASKING TO BE RAPED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.
No one ever puts on a low cut top or short/short skirt thinking "I'm definitely asking to be raped today!" Do you know why? Because no one should ever have to think like that! Why do we insist on judging the victim's actions previously, instead of judging - and condemning - the rapist?! They are the one(s) who committed the crime and surely we should be asking ourselves "why did they rape?" instead of "well they were asking for it in those clothes". It's absurd! We would never say to a victim of a mugging "you shouldn't have had your wallet on you" - because we view mugging as a CRIME and blaming the victim is WRONG. So why do we do that with victims of sexual assault and rape? It causes severe emotional and psychological trauma as well as physical trauma to the victims so why don't we treat it seriously?
Chrissy Hynde's comments were just the latest in a society full of rape culture and victim blaming. It's time to stop.
Blaming victims of sexual assault for their actions before the assault took place i.e. drinking alcohol is common practice. The victim is rarely believed in a court of law if they had been drinking because many defence lawyers will use that as an excuse - that the victim is most likely ashamed of having had sex while drunk and their testimonies are sometimes shaky as opposed to the perpetrator's.
Another incident where people love to blame the victim of sexual assault is when it comes down to what the victim was wearing - especially if the victim was, as Chrissy Hynde put it, "dressed provocatively" and an ide is passed and believed that the victim was 'asking for it' - that they were asking to be raped!
NO ONE IS ASKING TO BE RAPED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.
No one ever puts on a low cut top or short/short skirt thinking "I'm definitely asking to be raped today!" Do you know why? Because no one should ever have to think like that! Why do we insist on judging the victim's actions previously, instead of judging - and condemning - the rapist?! They are the one(s) who committed the crime and surely we should be asking ourselves "why did they rape?" instead of "well they were asking for it in those clothes". It's absurd! We would never say to a victim of a mugging "you shouldn't have had your wallet on you" - because we view mugging as a CRIME and blaming the victim is WRONG. So why do we do that with victims of sexual assault and rape? It causes severe emotional and psychological trauma as well as physical trauma to the victims so why don't we treat it seriously?
Chrissy Hynde's comments were just the latest in a society full of rape culture and victim blaming. It's time to stop.
Tuesday 25 August 2015
Pop Culture Tuesday - Highlighting the Hollywood Gender Pay Gap
Last Thursday, Forbes Magazine released their lost of the top-earning actresses of 2015, a few days after they released the actor list. Only the top 3 actresses earned over $20 million while the top 21 men earned over that amount.
Do you want to know why? Because as long as Hollywood and the entertainment industry, women have seriously been underappreciated and underrepresented. Leading roles for women that don't require women to be overtly sexualised or play the uptight 'mum' like figure to the fun-loving 'dad' are incredibly few and far between.
It also highlights that if an actor and actress have the roughly the exact amount of screen time - the man is given a bigger cut, showcased in David O. Russell's film American Hustle in which the female lead, Amy Adams, earned less than Jeremy Renner, who was a supporting member of the cast. WHY!? But in a normal Hollywood film, the male lead earns more than the female supporter, so why on earth wasn't that the case in this instance!? All that was different was the that the gender roles were reversed!
However, in all the actresses in Hollywood, women of colour are the most affected. They are the most likely to not have speaking parts, be sexualised & fetishized (particularly Latinx women) and earn the least amount. How is that fair!? Hollywood preaches diversity in the films they deem to be 'good' but they never seem to put it into practice.
The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap has long been showcased, from the 'silent movie' era to the rise of the 'talkies' and it's only been over these past few years, that women are fighting back. Charlize Theron recently revealed that she demanded she was given the same cut as he male co-star Chris Hemsworth, in their upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman 2 so should she! I am sick of seeing women constantly undermined in the entertainment industry because of gender. The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap isn't directly linked to the Gender Pay Gap in other industries, but more so in the lack of strong, complex roles for women and as a result, many actresses find themselves drawn to the 'typical' roles out of fear of becoming irrelevant and many just want to have a good income.
Do you want to know why? Because as long as Hollywood and the entertainment industry, women have seriously been underappreciated and underrepresented. Leading roles for women that don't require women to be overtly sexualised or play the uptight 'mum' like figure to the fun-loving 'dad' are incredibly few and far between.
It also highlights that if an actor and actress have the roughly the exact amount of screen time - the man is given a bigger cut, showcased in David O. Russell's film American Hustle in which the female lead, Amy Adams, earned less than Jeremy Renner, who was a supporting member of the cast. WHY!? But in a normal Hollywood film, the male lead earns more than the female supporter, so why on earth wasn't that the case in this instance!? All that was different was the that the gender roles were reversed!
However, in all the actresses in Hollywood, women of colour are the most affected. They are the most likely to not have speaking parts, be sexualised & fetishized (particularly Latinx women) and earn the least amount. How is that fair!? Hollywood preaches diversity in the films they deem to be 'good' but they never seem to put it into practice.
The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap has long been showcased, from the 'silent movie' era to the rise of the 'talkies' and it's only been over these past few years, that women are fighting back. Charlize Theron recently revealed that she demanded she was given the same cut as he male co-star Chris Hemsworth, in their upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman 2 so should she! I am sick of seeing women constantly undermined in the entertainment industry because of gender. The Hollywood Gender Pay Gap isn't directly linked to the Gender Pay Gap in other industries, but more so in the lack of strong, complex roles for women and as a result, many actresses find themselves drawn to the 'typical' roles out of fear of becoming irrelevant and many just want to have a good income.
Friday 14 August 2015
Why Intersectionality Matters #2 - Barriers Facing Women of Colour that Are Invisible to White Women
This is 2nd Intersectionality Matters post and today I'm going to be discussing how White Feminism comes from a place of white privilege and supremacy and as a result is internalised racism. I'm going to be talking about the barriers that women of colour face that white women will never have to face and the fact that a lot of those barriers aren't highlighted in mainstream media.
1) The Pay Gap - It's no secret that there is still a wage gap in most industries and companies between men and women. White women earn 78 cents to the dollar that white men earn and that has been long argued about for decades. However, very few people discuss the fact that Hispanic women earn on average 54 cents, black women earn 64 cents and Native American earn 65 cents. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that more WOC could only find part-time jobs than white women.
2) Beauty Standards - I know that every woman (and man) faces standards of beauty that are impossible to attain, but WOC face the fact that models of their skin colour are rarely seen in mainstream fashion media and messages are sent out (whether unintentionally or not) that if you're white then you can easily be beautiful. In fact, some magazines have even gone so far as to promote 'new trends' for white women to follow that have been used in various cultures for years.
3) Lack of Media Representation - Following on from my last point, there is a distinct lack of cultural diversity in pretty much all aspects of the media, whether it be film or TV etc., and I know that there is a lack of female representation overall, it's more so for WOC. While there has been a surge of more culturally diverse programmes being produced, Hispanic actors make up 12.5% of characters, black actors make up 4.9% and Asian actors make up 5.3% yet they all account for around 50% of the movie tickets.
4) Racial Discrimination - As you'll have seen in the news recently, more and more ethnic minorities are being killed in acts of police brutality, are being discriminated against in the workforce, and are being verbally and physically abused in the street. White people rarely face that on a daily basis, if at all.
And White Feminism chooses to erase all these things from their agenda and act like everyone started from the same point. But we didn't - some people are still a bit behind. So let's make a change. Feminism is for everyone - not just the elite.
1) The Pay Gap - It's no secret that there is still a wage gap in most industries and companies between men and women. White women earn 78 cents to the dollar that white men earn and that has been long argued about for decades. However, very few people discuss the fact that Hispanic women earn on average 54 cents, black women earn 64 cents and Native American earn 65 cents. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that more WOC could only find part-time jobs than white women.
2) Beauty Standards - I know that every woman (and man) faces standards of beauty that are impossible to attain, but WOC face the fact that models of their skin colour are rarely seen in mainstream fashion media and messages are sent out (whether unintentionally or not) that if you're white then you can easily be beautiful. In fact, some magazines have even gone so far as to promote 'new trends' for white women to follow that have been used in various cultures for years.
3) Lack of Media Representation - Following on from my last point, there is a distinct lack of cultural diversity in pretty much all aspects of the media, whether it be film or TV etc., and I know that there is a lack of female representation overall, it's more so for WOC. While there has been a surge of more culturally diverse programmes being produced, Hispanic actors make up 12.5% of characters, black actors make up 4.9% and Asian actors make up 5.3% yet they all account for around 50% of the movie tickets.
4) Racial Discrimination - As you'll have seen in the news recently, more and more ethnic minorities are being killed in acts of police brutality, are being discriminated against in the workforce, and are being verbally and physically abused in the street. White people rarely face that on a daily basis, if at all.
And White Feminism chooses to erase all these things from their agenda and act like everyone started from the same point. But we didn't - some people are still a bit behind. So let's make a change. Feminism is for everyone - not just the elite.
Tuesday 11 August 2015
Pop Culture Tuesday - Stop the Period Shaming
This week's Pop Culture Tuesday was inspired by 2 articles I saw over last week. The first one was Donald Trump making offensive comments about Megyn Kelly during the GOP debate, implying she was menstruating at the time because she dared to challenge him. The second one was that a woman ran the London Marathon without a tampon in to take a stand against period shaming and to highlight what many young girls in underdeveloped countries have to do.
Firstly though, I'm going to talk about the misogynist that is Donald Trump. Because he had to answer such 'tough questions' during the GOP Debate he blamed the anchor for being on her period!? So just because he couldn't answer some political questions, he decided to lash out at a cisgender woman for that and blames a process she can't help but do? That is never appropriate! In fact, periods aren't even an insult anyway, they happen, so everyone that thinks it's an insult needs to get over themselves, and fast.
Secondly, I respect Kiran Gandhi (the woman who ran the London Marathon without a tampon) so much. You might not think it takes guts to run 26 miles without a tampon in to make a political statement, but I do. Not only was she fighting back against periods shamers, who say that it's disgusting and unnatural, but she was pointing out that many young girls and trans boys, don't have any access to sanitary products while they're menstruating, or if they do they only have a few and have to reuse them, making them at risk for bacterial infection. The time has passed since cis women and trans men were told to keep their mouth shut about the menstrual cycle and now it's time to speak out about the tax they carry, the lack of availability of sanitary products in underdeveloped countries and that having a periods is no big deal - it's a natural part of life.
Firstly though, I'm going to talk about the misogynist that is Donald Trump. Because he had to answer such 'tough questions' during the GOP Debate he blamed the anchor for being on her period!? So just because he couldn't answer some political questions, he decided to lash out at a cisgender woman for that and blames a process she can't help but do? That is never appropriate! In fact, periods aren't even an insult anyway, they happen, so everyone that thinks it's an insult needs to get over themselves, and fast.
Secondly, I respect Kiran Gandhi (the woman who ran the London Marathon without a tampon) so much. You might not think it takes guts to run 26 miles without a tampon in to make a political statement, but I do. Not only was she fighting back against periods shamers, who say that it's disgusting and unnatural, but she was pointing out that many young girls and trans boys, don't have any access to sanitary products while they're menstruating, or if they do they only have a few and have to reuse them, making them at risk for bacterial infection. The time has passed since cis women and trans men were told to keep their mouth shut about the menstrual cycle and now it's time to speak out about the tax they carry, the lack of availability of sanitary products in underdeveloped countries and that having a periods is no big deal - it's a natural part of life.
Friday 7 August 2015
Why Intersectionality Matters #1 - Gender isn't defined by Biology
Over the next few weeks, for my Feminist Fridays, I'm going to be discussing why we need to be incorporating intersectionality into feminism - I know a lot of people are doing this (me included)because we need to acknowledge that gender isn't the only factor in deciding what inequality is. And many people, prominent figures or not, are simply believing that every woman starts at the same point in life and marginalise many minorities i.e. Women Of Colour, Transgender Women, Queer Women, Disabled Women etc. and as a result Feminism is increasingly seen as this 'elite' movement (more on that another time) which we need to change now because it's socially harmful.
This week, I am going to write about the marginalisation of transgender people.
From an early age, and as we get older, we are taught what makes a boy and what makes a boy - a girl has a vagina and a boy has a penis. However, if you have a penis but identify as a female, like transgender women, than as far as I'm concerned, they're a female - just like if you have a vagina but identify as a male, then you're a male.
Biology should not be the defining factor in someone's gender, it's about what gender you identify with, and want to be and eventually become. And if you're cisgender i.e. you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth, you have privileges that transgender people can only hope for.
If you are cisgender, then you are statistically less likely to be verbally abused on the street, physically attacked, raped, killed and face discrimination. But you already knew that (it's common knowledge) and particularly if you are also a trans woman of colour, or disabled, or queer then you are at even more at risk.
Feminists haven't been the best advocate for transgender equality under the Feminist Umbrella of 'Issues We Need to Tackle' but it is changing, slowly. So let's speed it up.
Tuesday 4 August 2015
Pop Culture Tuesday - The Growing Up A Boy Hashtag
Last week for PCT, I wrote a post about the Twitter hashtag 'Growing Up A Girl' so today I'm writing one up about its male counterpart - #GrowingUpABoy - because the patriarchy and sexism still affects boys/men too.
From an early age boys, like girls, are instilled with their stereotypical gender roles whether from family or the media. Boys clothes are typically blue, emblazoned with little trucks, sports equipment etc. in hope that they will grow up to be a stereotypical boy who loves cars and sports and everything else in our society typical men like to showcase their masculinity. It's been that way for thousands of years, and while the activities may have changed, the concept remains the same.
Then, if boys do not like to take part in these activities or wearing blue etc. they are bombarded with insults that hurt their masculinity e.g. 'pussy', 'don't be such a girl', 'man up' etc. all of which portray any sign of sensitivity in a man/boy as shameful and feminine - which men can never be. (Myself and other feminists think they can, but society seems to have a louder voice than we do). As a result of this, the highest percentage of people that commit suicide are young men. This is because they feel that they can't ask for help for fear of being ridiculed and/or just being told to 'man up'. Because boys are supposed to be the strong ones, the ones who hold everything together and that is deeply rooted in our psyche and so embedded in our culture that digging it up takes a hell of a lot of work -but we're digging, and changing.
I am also aware that boys, if sexually assaulted or abused by either another man or a woman, they are less likely to have their claim taken seriously or might not even admit at all (for reasons see above) because for years we are taught that the male is stereotypically the abuser - but that's not true - anyone can be the abuser, just like anyone can be the victim.
But feminism is working to change these things - just like it's working to change the problems girls face.
What are your thoughts on the Growing Up A Boy Hashtag?
From an early age boys, like girls, are instilled with their stereotypical gender roles whether from family or the media. Boys clothes are typically blue, emblazoned with little trucks, sports equipment etc. in hope that they will grow up to be a stereotypical boy who loves cars and sports and everything else in our society typical men like to showcase their masculinity. It's been that way for thousands of years, and while the activities may have changed, the concept remains the same.
Then, if boys do not like to take part in these activities or wearing blue etc. they are bombarded with insults that hurt their masculinity e.g. 'pussy', 'don't be such a girl', 'man up' etc. all of which portray any sign of sensitivity in a man/boy as shameful and feminine - which men can never be. (Myself and other feminists think they can, but society seems to have a louder voice than we do). As a result of this, the highest percentage of people that commit suicide are young men. This is because they feel that they can't ask for help for fear of being ridiculed and/or just being told to 'man up'. Because boys are supposed to be the strong ones, the ones who hold everything together and that is deeply rooted in our psyche and so embedded in our culture that digging it up takes a hell of a lot of work -but we're digging, and changing.
I am also aware that boys, if sexually assaulted or abused by either another man or a woman, they are less likely to have their claim taken seriously or might not even admit at all (for reasons see above) because for years we are taught that the male is stereotypically the abuser - but that's not true - anyone can be the abuser, just like anyone can be the victim.
But feminism is working to change these things - just like it's working to change the problems girls face.
What are your thoughts on the Growing Up A Boy Hashtag?
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