The passage on the bottom of page 23 shows how the changes that occur in Nkem’s new American lifestyle are drastic; however, the gender inequity is a constant even half way across the world. Nkem explains how Benin masks were once used to protect the king by “[warding] off evil.” She elaborates describing how the “custodians of the mask” must “behead strangers” to bury their king. The tone of the narration implies that Nkem is grappling with the reality that no one - other than the king - is able to have protection. By “wishing [the young men] had a say,” Nkem alludes to the idea that by lacking their own kind of mask or protection, these men have no voice of their own. Although the Benin masks are a part of history, the inequal use of their power translates as a parallel into Nkem’s present day life. Obiora is the king and Nkem imitates the people without a voice. Nkem represents the …show more content…
king’s servants because she too wishes she had a say, but does not fight for it. Even Nkem’s thoughts are suppressed when she allows her interpretation of the Benin masks to be clipped because Obiora “did not suggest it happened that way.” She is not letting herself explore that she has more than just sexual power in her relationship. Nkem thought living in America, married to a rich man, would be awesome and transformative. However, one’s happiness cannot be genuine if it is measured by material things. And although the material things in her new life became plentiful, the gender suppression never wavered despite the change in location. The story “Imitation” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie not only depicts the lifestyle and social cycle of Nigerian immigrant women, but also how the problems it presents is a parallel to most countries and people around the world today. In high school I have experienced an invisible power that men have in relationships. The root of the problem comes from society’s preconceived notion that boys ask the girl out, make the first move, and propose. This societal construct continues to ingrain the idea in young adults that men have control in the progression of a relationship. Although the idea of a boy asking a girl out may seem insignificant, its repercussions become a domino effect on the rest of the relationship. Fast forward to marriage where many women today mold their life around their family or significant other, rather than carving their own path. Just like Nkem, too many girls grow up planning their life to be reliant upon a man. Depending on a man feeds into the problem that many women subconsciously believe that sources of power come from and are only available to men. Although problems like the income gap are highlighted and spoken about, the root of the issue comes from lack of educating young girls about their potential. Too many girls are taught to keep their mouth shut and controversial thoughts quiet. Girls are not taught to use their equally capable minds as power sources. Even Nkem’s family relied on her sexuality as a source of power instead of empowering her with education and opportunities. The idea that she could be powerful in other ways never occurred Nkem because she never spoke of using her intellect or ambition to help her. Just like Nkem, I see girls changing themselves to feel worthy of attention - not only from guys, but also from girls. Girls will cut their hair just to feel wanted and to please society’s conception of beauty. Too many people see beauty as the physical approval from men and that if everyone follows trends, they too can be “pretty.” Beauty should be what makes you feel confident and empowered, not accepted. Beauty should never be something that forces someone to conform to society. With so many women trying to fit into the mold society has created, being seen as beautiful has become distorted and unreachable. Too many girls are taught to chase beauty instead of empowerment. If we allow this epidemic to continue, the social cycle of self deprecation and changing for others will never end. Living in a first world country has provided me with some perspective.
Everyday I notice unspoken gender inequities. I see boys who only interrupt the girls in their class or guys who think it is okay to holler at girls during lunch. Even at Milton I have experienced extreme levels of ignorance. Once a boy told me that “girls in SAGE must be gay for eachother.” These examples may seem painstakingly sexist, but some women around the world may disagree. Without knowing what gender equality is or that it exists, how can one notice sexism. Growing up in America gives me the privilege of knowing that sexism exists, and that everyone should be treated equally. However, too many developing countries deprive girls of gender equality exposure. When inequity becomes a justified concept in society, both women and men believe that is the right way to live - to treat women as inferior. When sexism has been engraved into the identity of your society’s history and culture, there is no opportunity that allows one to believe otherwise. The cycle will never end if we continue to live in
ignorance. A common theme in my everyday life is unspoken sexism. Even at a liberating institution such as Milton, women and allies are afraid to use their voice. Yes, we are luckier than most to even have a voice we can use; However, most do not feel the confidence to stand up and fight for gender equality. Although Milton gives us a platform to speak, the connotations attached to feminism remain negative. These implications come from the idea that the feminist movement means women over men. The world we live in today is saturated with ignorance. Educating one another on using our voices and living as equals is the only way to progress. I hope to live in a world where one day all women are self reliant, equally educated, and aware that being a woman means you are just as powerful as a man.
Each culture has its own way of living based upon the expectations of family living. Within those expectations, there is a dominant gender role that comes into play. In the essay “Once More to the Lake,” White lives a traditional life, where men play the more dominant role. In the essay “Street Scenes”, Hood brings the reader back to her home town through vivid memories of her modernized life, where she and her mother play the female dominant role in society. E.B White and Hood represent entirely different gender roles that are acquired in society within contrasting generations, containing similar values.
Cándido and América recognize that a swap of gender roles is needed for survival, Van recognizes that the society of Herland is thriving, and Celie recognizes that she has the power to make her own choices. These moments of recognition allow for shifts in these character’s views on the role of a male and female in a society. This shift that is present was evoked by the extreme situations that took place. Without these extreme situations the various paths and choices each character has would not have been recognized. This is what ultimately allows for the redefinition to take place. While each redefinition is slightly different, the prevailing theme is that gender roles aren’t confined to one sex, and can even be part of a partnership as long as characters implement these choices that they are
In the 1600s the main form of entertainment was displayed in castles amongst many famous people of the king and queens court. Masquerades were first made popular by the court of King Henry VIII. Masquerades were a form of upper class entertainment that extended into the Elizabethan era. The staging, scenery, decor and setting were all very important aspects to a masquerade, they had to be perfect and full of excitement and beauty. The masquerades were a place that elegance and beauty flourished not only in the setting of the masquerade but in the colorful and elaborate costumes and outfits worn by the people of the masquerade.
Gender inequality is prevalent in all major societies. The way that I would describe gender inequality is the unequal and unfair treatment between the two sexes. Sex makes up the biological differences of male or female. While gender is learned through social interactions and behaviors applied to the sexes. As a result, from a very early age, we are taught to follow certain gender expectations. For this reason, I agree with the statement that inequality is the result of gendered systems in which we live. I will evaluate certain chapters by Michael Kimmel in his book Gendered Society, to help show how we use certain concepts learned from society to run our lives. In today’s society children are raised to be a certain gender and they are expected to perform certain gender roles.
Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of "women's roles" continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. In this study, I will argue that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, economic, professional and legal arenas.
In today’s technological society it is hard to imagine that trivial things from the past like discrimination or prejudice are still present, but they are. Yes we still have racism, but for the most part this is only a problem of the less educated and vocal minority. There is a different prejudice that is deep rooted in this land of freedom and prosperity. This prejudice is sexism.
Even in the first civilizations sexsim was very prevalent, women were not included in democracy, they were not allowed to vote, and in some earlier civilizations women were not even allowed to have a job or go outside the home. Even as a 16 year old girl in America, the supposed land of dreams, I see sexism everyday. I see it when I watch the news, I see it when I’m walking down the halls at my school, I even see it when I read novels and articles or watch a movie online. Over 60% of serious journalism roles are given to males, while the women are left with the less important, or less popular sections. In school I see boys calling girls stupid, or girls getting a pass to go to their locker because they forgot something, even though a boy was just denied. I notice sexism the most in literature and movies, I see female characters being “airheads” or acting dumb and helpless, their main role in the piece is to wait for the male character to save them, or to be a comic relief. Not only are women’s jobs and dignity at stake but our sexuality, education and rights are too.
Recently the concerns of women around their equality in society has become a hotly debated topic in the public spot light. Much of the debate concerns women and the ingrained sexism that permeates most cultures. Many women's activists feel that this ingrained sexism has widened the gap between men and women in a political, social, and economic sense. And for the most part they do have strong evidence to support these claims. Women have suffered through millennia of male dominated societies where treatment of women has been, and in some cases still is, inhuman. Women are treated like subhuman creatures that have only exist to be used for procreate and to be subjugated by men for household use. It has only been very recently that women have become recognized as equals in the eyes of men. Equals in the sense that they have the same political and social rights as males. While the situation has improved, women still have to deal with a male oriented world. Often women in the workplace are thought of as inferior and as a liability. This can be due to concerns about maternity leave, or women with poor leadership skills. But also in part it is due because of the patriarchy that controls all aspects and dynamics of the culture, family, politics, and economy. Even developed countries like The United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and France, could be classified as a patriarchies. These countries may not agree with this notion because of expansive, but not complete changes, that have gradually equalized women in society. However, there are developed countries that openly express a patriarchy and have enacted little societal changes to bring equality to women. Japan is one such country, and t...
In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, several events occur that cause chaos and confusion among the people. The writer of the play, Shakespeare draws the reader to focus on the small but important details in the story, to understand what is happening, and why. I believe Shakespeare focuses on these characters mainly and their stories; the young Athenian lovers, Titania & Oberon, and Nick Bottom. These are the characters that are greatly affected by the magic of Cupid’s arrow and Oberon’s mischievous works. The theme magic is what really begins each characters story and what carries it, but what also causes all of the problems. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare emphasizes the theme magic to allow the reader to view how the power of magic affects each character differently.
In all societies around the world, women are treated as if they are a minority group, just like any racial or ethnic group that is out of the norm. The justification for considering women as a minority group and the existence of sexism becomes clear through the examination of social indicators, including education, employment, and income.
As Rafaela, Mamacita, and Sally’s examples show, the men living in the Mango Street neighborhood persecute their women. The men force their women to stay home. They also restrict their women’s rights by making them speak a new language, and in the extreme case, they beat their women. Although many negative aspects of gender may have lessened over the past few decades, the society should still work toward lessening more of these negative aspects around the world, and especially in the Middle East and North Africa, because extreme gender inequalities still exist today. Treating women inhumanely should be considered as extremely immoral, since we’re all human beings and born to be equal.
Gender inequality refers to the inequality between men and women, or the unequal treatment or perception of a person based on his or her gender. Gender inequality is almost always prominent towards a female rather than towards a male. Women are seen as inferior to men in every country in the world. This form of society is called patriarchal and is one of this biggest issues in American society today. Patriarchy means that the country has a primarily male dominated society. Does anyone realize what gender inequality is doing to our country as a whole? Not everyone may think it has a great impact on our society, but gender inequality creates many of our problems today including wealth, income, and status discriminations. I chose to write about this topic because I believe that this is one of the biggest problems that all societies face, not just the United States. Fixing the gender inequality issues in our country could have a bigger impact than what many people may think. Changing something that most consider to be so minuscule could play a very important part of a much bigger picture in our country. If we could close the gap created by the inequality between men and women than maybe we could help influence the way America thinks about many other issues as well.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
There was a time in the world when women were without basic rights and required the power to make decisions about their own lifestyle. They weren’t educated to the same standard as men. They weren’t allowed to work, they weren’t even allowed to inherit property. Everything belonged to their husband or family. There were no women in the police force or government and women weren’t even allowed to vote. Men’s power over women often cost their lives , the physical power is obvious. But there is also emotional power. Yet, after many years, women and men are still not equal. Women and girls should be able to lead a free, equal and self-determining life in every corner of the world just like men do so.
Gender inequality refers to unfair or unequal treatment of people based on their femininity or masculinity. This is often in reference to roles that society has stipulated by default for each gender type. Sexual inequality refers to bias treatment of people based on their male or female sexual traits. Awareness and sensitivity to gender and sexual inequity are vital in the functioning of a society; every society member ought to have equal status, voice and opportunities irrespective of their gender. In every day-to-day activity, gender and sexual insensitivity exhibits in peoples’ speech, behavior and delegation of duties. Insensitivity is often unintentional, thus the need to create awareness among people on what is insensitive and be enthusiastic to begin the change that society needs to be able to give equal chances to all its members and give them a sense of belonging despite their gender (Jackson, 1998).