Throughout this course, we have discussed many foci
of the feminist movement. These ranged from issues of labor equality to beauty
ideals to violence against women, among others. Three of these issues stand out
to me as the most important issues for the feminist movement to focus on. These
are fighting against gender roles and stereotypes, violence against women, and
women’s health. These three issues stand out to me as issues that will resolve
other issues that women face as they themselves are dealt with.
If feminists wish to achieve any of their goals, I
think gender roles need to be rejected by society, beginning at a young age. The
equality of men and women should be taught to children and children should not
be forced into gender roles society has placed on us. As of now, boys and girls
are socialized in school to fit into these gender roles. We saw in Barrie
Thorne’s article (“Girls and Boys Together…”) that gender roles are being
fulfilled on elementary school playgrounds and in cafeterias. Children are
taught at a young age that in order to fit into society, they cannot break out
of their assigned gender roles, and if they do, they will be ridiculed. If we
can break down gender stereotypes at a young age, we can more easily eliminate
them in society as a whole, as well as change the way women are treated in the
work force. To do this, I think feminists need to focus on standing against how
men and women are portrayed in the media. The portrayal of women as weak and/or
as sexual objects and men as strong and aggressive subconsciously affects
everyone, especially children and teenagers. If we can change the way the media
portrays the genders, we get at what I feel is the root of the problem.
Violence against women seems to be a never-ending
problem in our world, and why we have let it continue is inexcusable. By
lessening violence against women, we make women stronger. As I discussed in an
earlier blog, I think we need to first start with making sure that all women,
regardless of race or social class, are able to seek and receive help without
being forced to adhere to rules like being able to speak English. I feel that more
funding needs to be allocated to stopping violence against women as well.
Finally, I think that women’s health is an important
issue that the feminist movement should focus on. Having access to adequate
health care is a right that all people should be afforded, and this is not the
case for many women throughout the world. Reproductive rights are important as
well, and this relates to adequate health care for everyone. Regardless of
whether you consider yourself pro-life, pro-choice, or neither (because you
find these words do not adequately cover your beliefs on reproductive rights),
I think all would agree that we do not want women to have unsafe abortions
performed on them. This is one way in which supporting women’s health is
extremely important, among many others.
Danielle, I totally agree with you on point #1: gender stereotypes and gender construction via the media is probably the root of all other issues, at least here in the United States. Since gender inequality seems to have permeated most societies over the history of the world I’d say it’s probably not the root of everything, but it certainly seems to be at the heart of the issue we’re facing today. I keep thinking about the films we watched like Miss Representation and Killing Us Softly and how much of an impact media has on determining who we are as gendered beings and what we aspire to become. Perhaps because horrible self-image is something I struggle with every day I identify most with the critiques feminists have of the beauty system in our culture, but I also find it significant that not so very long ago women were portrayed very differently in the media and this portrayal largely reflected the different roles women played in society. I’m not really sure which reflects which nowadays, but it is certainly disturbing that it’s hard to find strong, capable women in the media and when those women go public in real life they are belittled and ridiculed. I hope we are able to adequately address and solve this problem in the near future. We’ll see.
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