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.
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
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.
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