I found this photo some time ago on the Internet and it really made
me think about prejudices, stereotypes and shaming mechanism in our
society. Despite the proclaimed liberties women enjoy today and an ever
more equal treatment of the fair sex in the public and the private
sphere the prejudices and narrow minded views still linger.
Like the chart on the young lady's leg in the above photo. How many times have you caught yourself thinking that a woman you saw was dressed inappropriately and you immediately jumped to labelling that person "easy", slutty, etc. We still frown upon women who are open and comfortable about being seductive, sexy and even sexually assertive.
How about adultery? Do we judge women who commit adultery harsher than the men? Imagine you had two friends, a male and a female who were both adulterers. How would your relationship with them change? Would you feel that the action of one of them is more heinous though technically they're both guilty of the same thing.
No matter how liberal our society may be, I think it's still imprinted on our mind that somehow, for some reason the female adulterer has committed a graver offence.
And of course women are stereotypically labelled as disastrous drivers though time after time this was proven wrong by numerous statistical data and analysis.
What do you think? Has the equality of
genders improved in the 21st century or are there still some lingering
prejudices from the dark ages?Like the chart on the young lady's leg in the above photo. How many times have you caught yourself thinking that a woman you saw was dressed inappropriately and you immediately jumped to labelling that person "easy", slutty, etc. We still frown upon women who are open and comfortable about being seductive, sexy and even sexually assertive.
How about adultery? Do we judge women who commit adultery harsher than the men? Imagine you had two friends, a male and a female who were both adulterers. How would your relationship with them change? Would you feel that the action of one of them is more heinous though technically they're both guilty of the same thing.
No matter how liberal our society may be, I think it's still imprinted on our mind that somehow, for some reason the female adulterer has committed a graver offence.
And of course women are stereotypically labelled as disastrous drivers though time after time this was proven wrong by numerous statistical data and analysis.
Interesting photo..I immediately and mentally examined where I would fall on that scale...haha...I think the situation has improved greatly since the 70s but not quite there yet.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I wonder how women would react if men were to wear "whore" or "slut" shorts on the street. I am willing to bet that women would come up with some stereotypes in their minds. Thank you for raising our awareness. Stereotypes are not good things for the people who become their subjects. Hope you are having a lovely Thursday. xx
Interesting question :-) since men are increasingly becoming objectified as well as pressured into looking thin and sexy (just think of all the anti-aging cosmetic for men that didn't exist a few years ago) I wouldn't at all be surprised if a man wearing tight "whore" shorts would be subjected to some sort of name calling.
DeleteInteresting photo. Sexism is alive and well, that is for sure. Just think of the sex trafficking!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, the mere mention of sex trafficking has my skin crawling! Especially since the onset of the economic crisis when white slave trading has found its way into Slovenia and the media has since exposed some really ugly stories. What started as exploitations of illegal immigrants from parts of Eastern Europe has turned into a business of "importing" women under some pretext of employing exotic dancers. What makes this so horrific is that these women come into the country legally, their handlers arranging all the necessary paper work and the government while fully aware of this is made completely incompetent since they lack hard evidence to stop it.
DeleteIn answer to your male/female adultery question,I would say we are more accepting of this situation,certainly do not make judgements of the sexes,maybe because adultery/divorce is common over here? In the 30's women who left their husbands/families were called 'bolters'!
ReplyDeleteWomen drivers'were considered the safest by insurance companies,and we were given cheaper rates,until the EU said it was unfair to males,so now equal payments for both,though we all know men are the worst drivers,especially the young.So am I sexist? sounds like it!
Hopefully we are moving in the right direction.
Wow, that's unfair to have to change the insurance policies. Sure it's discriminatory but in my opinion it falls into the category of postive discrimination and it's therefore legal. I bet the insurance companies were just dying for some half justified reason to make more money.
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