No amount of roses or champaign will mask this blatant sexism

As one of ABC’s most successful shows, The Bachelor has been on the air for fourteen years. For just as long, however, this romance-centered program has come under very harsh, very valid criticism. Accused of promoting and perpetuating blatantly sexist themes throughout its time on TV, some might say that a more appropriate name for the show would be something along the lines of Search for the Perfect Housewife.

As early as the first episode of the new season, a number of the women are unknowingly and quite unluckily assigned tropey roles by ABC themselves that they will be stuck with for the rest of their time on the show. Utilizing camera techniques that appeal to the male gaze, the woman of that particular season who has been named “the sexy one”, for example, might later watch her episodes and find that for over half of the footage used of her she is wearing a bikini, and rarely speaking at all. A very similar experience, meaning being portrayed on screen as more of a character than a real woman is had by the women that are titled things like “the stuck up one”, “the mom”, “the party girl”, and “the dumb one”, respectively.

Every week and in each episode, two dates take place. The one-on-one date, during which just one of the twenty-five women is selected to spend a magical evening alone with the bachelor, usually complete with a helicopter ride and a private concert, and a group date, when a large portion of the women are forced to go on an outing that feels more like a school field trip than a date, only with more cameras, crying, competition, and public humiliation. If the women are especially unlucky, there might even be a two-on-one date. This happens about once a season when two women go on the same date, effectively creating a humiliating atmosphere for whichever woman  is being treated like the third-wheel. At the end of what is always the most uncomfortable date of the season, only one woman is given a rose, and the other must go home immediately. Televised mortification to this extreme degree is not only disturbing to see but also perpetuates the inconsiderate nature of which this show treats its female contestants.

It would not be difficult to write off The Bachelor as just some reality garbage. Due to it being one of the longest-running reality shows on any network, the shock of the ridiculous premise (one man dating twenty-five women at the same time to hopefully meet and fall in love with his future wife) has worn off, each episode becomes more and more predictable, and all drama is so obviously staged it almost hurts to sit through. Through each group date, catfight, breakdown, scandal, and glass of wine, in the last episode of each season the bachelor is expected to pick one woman to be his wife. But why do they have to get married right then? Can’t they just continue dating like a normal couple until they are positive that they are both ready to take that step? Shouldn’t this happen organically? Those All great questions, all ones that the production team at ABC has never bothered to acknowledge. It is for that reason that a bachelor couple very seldom ever actually makes it down the aisle.

Through all of the criticism and reasonable disapproval of the show by onlookers, The Bachelor remains ABC’s biggest cash cow and longest running reality show. For fourteen seasons, the obvious promotion of countless examples of sexist ideologies have taken a back seat by viewers to utter (maybe slightly morbid) curiosity. The show’s sheer ridiculousness is enough to keep its viewers coming back each season, if only for the helicopter rides and dazzling dresses. This fascination that each new season brings, unfortunately, is still too strong for many to step back and consider the potential problems and unhealthy standards that airing a show like this could plant in its supporters minds.  

No Feminism in Gossip Girl

The TV drama Gossip Girl focuses on the “scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite” through the lens of an anonymous voice called “Gossip Girl.” The series talks about issues of our culture today, but also exaggerates many aspects of the wealthy characters’ lives. While the money aspect of the show in unrealistic for most viewers, the show sends important messages that both perpetuate and defy stereotypes about gender. Although some stereotypes about gender are questioned, the majority of the characters reinforce stereotypes through their personalities and behavior throughout the show.

In the episode “The 16 Year Old Virgin,” male and female romantic relationships are the main focus. The 16 year old virgin is Jenny Humphrey. Her relationship with Damien Delgarde is a prominent issue during this episode. Up until this episode, Jenny has been putting a lot of pressure on herself to grow up as quickly as she can. She has turned from an innocent and preppy girl to a goth, angsty teenager who thinks she knows everything. She wants more than anything to get with Damien because he’s older and more experienced. When she finally decides to ditch school to hook up with him, she realizes what a big mistake she is making because he only wants her for sex. When she tells him she’s a virgin, he replies with, “I figured” and “it’s not that big of a deal.” Shocked, she responds, “It kind of IS a big deal,” realizing that he has no consideration for her feelings. This is a great example of the stereotypical “sex object.” Jenny is someone Damien just wants to have sex with and does not actually care about her as a person.

While Jenny is dealing with the expectations of a stereotypical “player,” Serena is happy in her new relationship with Nate. Nate and Serena have a long history, but ever since the Shepherd wedding, Serena has been particularly unattainable. She is known as the “seductress” of the show. While Nate could be known as a “jock,” who you might consider someone who doesn’t have a single girl on their mind, he really only likes Serena. He confesses that he’s had a huge crush on her forever, and this episode is the beginning of them actually being together. Up until now, Serena has been highly unattainable to Nate, which is why she fits the stereotype of the seductress. While Serena dated Dan (the “geek”), that also fits into a stereotype that beautiful women get with less attractive men.

As for Chuck and Blair, their relationship both supports and questions stereotypes about gender. Before Chuck was with Blair, he was the stereotypical “player,” using women for his own sexual pleasure. Now him and Blair are together and Chuck has become a loyal boyfriend. He has built an empire and Blair is running her mom’s fashion company. Blair’s business success defies stereotypes that women can’t be powerful, but Chuck’s success by becoming the youngest billionaire makes Blair look completely unsuccessful in comparison. Ultimately, the stereotypes that are questioned in the show are not as prevalent as the stereotypes that are perpetuated. The character traits of these elite teenagers have, for the most part, have been made to fit traditional gender roles.

The Arrival of Women as Real People in Movies

In the movie “Arrival” gender is not the obvious main focus but there are some gender roles that are not typical for a 21st century movie. In "Arrival", the world tries to figure out why aliens dropped twelve spaceships on earth. One landed in the U.S. and a team was put together to communicate with them and try to figure out why they were there. The main character, Louise (Amy Adams), is portrayed as a strong, intelligent and independent woman. In a lot of movies, the main character is not a woman and if there is a women in the movie her role is usually related to sex and how she portrays herself to a man. However, in this movie the focus is on Louise’s talent and skills. Even though at the end of the movie Louise and the other main character, Ian (Jeremy Renner), fall in love, Louise is not objectified.

Louise is a quiet woman who lives alone and focuses on her work as a professor in language after losing her daughter. When the aliens land, Louise is called by the U.S. government to try to communicate with them. “You’re at the top of everyone’s list when it comes to translations,” says the Colonel from Army intelligence. Louise is looked at as a smart women instead of an object that is only good for sex. A way in which Louise shows her strength and confidence is when she is on the spaceship and is trying to communicate with them, she takes of her suit that protects her from any unearthly substances and says “they need to see me.” Adams is dedicated, fearless, and professional and is trying to get her job done. She is in control of herself and her job and shows her strength instead of being the “damsel in distress.” This is contrasting to most action films like the James Bond and the Mission Impossible movies which portray women as sex objects.

Towards the end of the movie after the aliens are all figured out, Louise and Ian fall in love and the attention is off of her work and onto them as a couple for a brief time. Ian asks Louise “Do you want to make a baby?” this obviously implies that he wants to have sex with her, but I still do not think she is objectified at all in this movie. Also, most of the clothes she wore in the movie are not objectifying; she wore professional clothes, however, she was also not portraying the “ugly woman” stereotype. Louise is not shown as a sex object but is also not shown as “unfeminine” either.

This movie breaks the typical female character stereotype and focuses on a real person with real characteristics, instead of just her appearance. This is not the only work in culture that portrays a truly powerful female character. The Movie “Courage Under Fire” and T.V. shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” are all examples of works of culture that show strong, independent women.

Stereotypical but Not Stereotypes

Left to right: Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson,
Dorothy Vaughan

Hidden Figures, a recent movie about the women “computers” at NASA who sent the first American into space, is one example of a new trend of gender stereotypes in media. Previously, a revolutionary female role consisted of the Ultimate Kick-A** Take No Shit Anti-Stereotype woman, but now media is beginning to show women who do stereotypical things while still on the whole defying stereotypes. In Hidden Figures, each of the three main female characters all have a story line revolving around her home life, as mother or wife, which is balanced with the story of their intelligence and their jobs. The movie attempts to show this balance with a few of the men, but unfortunately almost all of the male characters have male stereotype as their whole identity, making Hidden Figures portrayal of male gender roles far less progressive.

Early on in the movie, there is a transition scene in which the women drive home from work together, and then we are shown a snippet of each of their home lives. They are all mothers and wives (or widows). This scene demonstrates the domesticity that these women possess, the role of the mother and the wife that they all play. There is no woman in the movie who does not fall into these roles. However, given that the scene just before was them at work defying every feminine stereotype of submissiveness and non-ambition, the viewer is left with a stark contrast that only goes to show how women are multidimensional 

and can be both stereotypical and not at once.

Another place where the domestic stereotype is both proven and disproved is in one of the main storylines of Katherine Johnson finding a second husband, Jim. At first glance, this appears to reflect the age-old trope that a woman is nothing without a man. However, when her prospective love interest says something sexist, Katherine is immediately enraged and stops pursuing him. Jim is then left to win Katherine’s love, a complete role reversal of the trope originally hinted at. While the overall endgame of marrying off the woman is there, some credit is due in reversing the traditional gender roles and giving the woman agency over her love life, again showing both women and men defying stereotypes to an extent.

Jim is one of the few token men who treat Katherine and her colleagues with true respect. When Jim slips up and says the infamous line, “They [NASA] let women do that kind of work?”, he immediately regrets it and works to apologize to Katherine. The other man who breaks the mold is Al Harrison, the head of the research center where the women work. He commends her for her intelligence, takes her opinion into consideration, and works to make NASA a welcoming place for her and the other women.

However, these two seem to be the few token “good” men. The rest of the men working at NASA are rude and derogatory towards Katherine, because of both race and gender. Being the supposed epitome of STEM workers, they fall into the geek stereotype, where they think they are infinitely smarter than any woman and refuse to listen to any evidence that would convince them otherwise. Though there are a few defiant male roles in this movie, the majority of them do fall into a sexist and tired stereotype. 

Certainly in the past few years we have been seeing a lot of media with women who break the mold by departing from the stereotype as much as humanly possible. Hidden Figures takes a new spin in which women are allowed to fit stereotypes and still be unstereotypical. However, the movie also falls trap to the more broad trend that men’s roles have not changed nearly as much. Men in media are still subject to heavy stereotyping, and those who break the mold tend to be token outliers rather than the norm in any given work.

Pink Matter: Life, Lust, and Aliens

Frank Ocean debuted his Channel Orange Album in 2012. He titled the album as a reference to a neurological phenomenon called  grapheme-color synesthesia. This means a person's experience or sense is related to a color. Frank is referencing how he fell in love. The song “Pink Matter” takes a sadder, more laidback style with themes of sex and betrayal. Ocean experiences an internal strife and struggle between the meaning of life, love and sex, extraterrestrial life, and gender.

In the very beginning of the song Frank describes the philosophy of “mind body problem”.  He is trying to figure out the relationship between the brain and consciousness. Frank is raising the question of whether the brain is merely matter, or is the mind something more?

What do you think my brain is made for

Is it just a container for the mind

This great grey matter

Throughout the song Frank refers to a “Sensei”. The sensei represents Frank’s internal consciousness as well as his own battles between lust, sex, and love. A sensei is a teacher, often a wise one. In this line Frank is conversing with the sensei and raising questions.

Sensei replied what is your woman

Is she just a container for the child

Frank is being questioned about how he views the purpose of women. He does not know if he simply views women as containers for holding children and giving birth. Frank is reluctant to say whether he values women for their minds or just for their bodies. This is relevant in a society that seems to only value women for their bodies, and it is obviously affecting Frank himself. Frank’s sensei is helping him open up to ideas about gender as well as acceptance. Next, Frank jumps to the questioning of extraterrestrial life.

What if the sky and the stars are for show

And the aliens are watching live

Frank is questioning the idea that human beings are small compared to the grand scheme of the universe.  By using the words “what if” it allows the audience to be detached from their own perspective and take a look at the larger scheme of things. If Frank does believe there are aliens, it makes the problems of his own life a little less severe and insignificant. This ideology is a common experience for everyone. As long as humans have the consciousness they will begin to question the meaning of things and the relativity of themselves as a whole.

Towards the end of the song, Frank also brings in his own questioning of sexuality. In July of 2012, shortly after the release of the Channel Orange album, Frank opened up about how he is bisexual. This was a shock to many in the hip hop industry and caused backlash to Frank himself.

Grey matter

Blue used to be my favorite color

Now I ain't got no choice

Blue matter

By starting with the line “Grey matter” and ending the verse with “Blue matter” Frank is showing his own transition to a new way of thinking. Instead of being stuck in his own grey matter and jumble of senselessness and confusion, he turns to one that is more himself. When he says he has “no choice” it could be that he cannot choose his own sexuality and refuses to hide it anymore. The blue could also be about how Frank is stuck in his gender. Society is telling him that he is a man, and that he is “blue”. Frank feels trapped in these fixed molds but has no choice but to conform. There are other songs in the album speculated to be about his struggles with his sexualty including one titled “Forrest Gump”.

Overall the common themes and questioned Frank shares are a common experience for everyone. As people age throughout their lives, these age old questions about life and love appear. This song is especially relevant in a society that is so obsessed with stereotyping and celebrity culture. This song forces the audience to go through Frank’s own internal strife as well as your own.

Living in our Man Made World

In this day in age it is hard to go anywhere without seeing electronics, advertisements, music or magazines with way to skinny girls on them. In seeing this it is hard for you not to ask how much do these things control our lives and influence what we do. In this time we are still living in a postmodern world.

In America self image has become less about who you are and more about how you look. Instead of self image being about what you want to be it has been mutilated into a lifestyle of what everyone else wants you to be. And, because of this America and it’s youth are hurting themselves just fit into a stereotype that they can never be. As a women in America from a young age you are taught what to be. Growing up all you see is women in magazines and t.v shows skinny as sticks telling you to be just like them, and that they got there beauty naturally. But what society doesn't tell you is that these women either work out 24/7 or bodies are cropped into perfection onto a computer. In our postmodern world we use these false images to guide how much we eat and how we should exercise.

We also use celebrities as a guide on how to spend our lives. Through a variety of advertisements. In commercials we see the singers and actors advertising things like clothes and beauty products. So, we spend a lot of our money on things that are over priced making actors and companies rich while we try to feed into the man made stereotypes of coolness. another way that media controls us is by music. famous singers flaunt their money, girls and cars in front of our faces telling us this is what we are suppose to be. we are suppose to act a certain way to get to this fictional promised land where we get everything we dream of.

And as naive easily influenced human being we try to reach for it posting our lives on social media as evidence that we are getting further in our lives than everyone else. we grasp at straw, like and follows to prove that we are as popular and making our way to somewhere we never get to.

Hillary's One Word Pathos Campaign

"I'm With Her" is a phrase we're all familiar with at this point. This iconic slogan for the Hillary 2016 campaign can be found everywhere you turn your head - backpacks, bumpers, front yards. You name a place, the slogan's there. We've all heard it said countless times in speeches, on TV, or on public radio. It's simple, quick, catchy, and it gets the point across. It's also a genius example of using one word to unite voters on the issue of gender inequity.

Take a close look at this button. It's very visually appealing to look at; the blue hues and circular shape combined with capital letters give off a calm yet formal vibe. More important than these graphic details, however, is Hillary's gender agenda. By using the word the 'her', Hillary draws attention away from herself. The voter is not with Hillary, not with the Clinton family, not the with former Secretary of State and 2008 Presidential Candidate. They are with her, the possibility of the first female president. 

As Clinton is a Democratic candidate, the fact of the matter is that most of her voters do support gender equality, and most of them will deny a claim of sexism until their last breath. So what better way to get those voters on her side than to make not supporting her seem sexist. If you're not with her, then you're not with women in politics. You're not with job equality. You're not with supporting women. You're not with equal rights regardless of gender. At least, that's what this slogan is designed to make you think.

Another brilliant aspect of using the word "her" is that it creates a sense of unity among women. It's about seeing your own success and growth as a woman paralleled with hers. It's about getting someone that understands your struggles as a her into the White House.  It's about all the little girls who will now have a role model, who can grow up to be just like her. It's about all the Republican women who might not be inclined to vote for a Democrat, but who are certainly inclined to get her voice heard. It's about the women who are willing to put aside their differences and come together to ensure that a him who hates hers doesn't get into office.

In using the word "her", rather than her own name, Hillary Clinton's slogan takes on a whole new meaning. It's a genius tactic to get all sorts of people on her side, by making the election a matter of gender and gender equality; rather than about whose policies are better than whose. It's about making the voter question their own morals - can they really call themselves a feminist, can they say they support women if they don't support her. Hopefully for Hillary, they can't.

Gender and Mental Illness Through a Kid's Cartoon

The cartoon Steven Universe by Rebecca Sugar may appear like any other children show, but the progressive plot suggests otherwise. Covering topics such as homophobia, rape, anxiety, and the concept of gender, this Cartoon Network series opens the eyes of the viewers to modern society ‘in the real way.’

Most of the characters in the story are a fictional species of alien beings called ‘gems’, the main characters being part of an organization called the Crystal Gems. They are all named after gemstones and rocks found on Earth. Pearl, Peridot, Garnet, Amethyst, almost any gem you can think of has/will appear on the show. These gems have feminine characteristics shown through their hair and clothing, and go by she/her pronouns. But the creator Rebecca Sugar said that she did not intend for the gems to have specific genders. “Gems are Gems!” said Sugar. “Steven is the only male gem because he is half human! Technically, there are no female gems!” With the modern American world beginning to accept the flexibility of gender, Steven Universe gives early exposure of this to its predominantly younger audience. Gender is a topic that many people have valid and true opinions on, representing these opinions through a cartoon gives them an accepting and less stressful connotation.

The gems in Steven Universe are able to do something called ‘fusion’, in which two gems combine to make a bigger and stronger gem. This, in a real world sense, represent love and sometimes can specifically be sex. You can only fuse with someone if you both are open to it. On Homeworld, gems are only allowed to fuse with another gem of their own kind to become more powerful in battle. If one were to fuse with a different kind of gem, the would be banished or killed. One of the Crystal Gems is Garnet, who is a constant fusion of two gems names Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby was a guard to Sapphire and eventually fell in love with her. When they ‘accidentally’ fused into Garnet, their leader Blue Diamond threatened to kill them. Eventually they escape and join the Crystal Gems. They remain fused because it feels right to them, they love each other so much that they never want to be apart. A fusion that contrasts Garnet is Malachite. The Homeworld commander Jasper threatens her prisoner Lapis Lazuli to fuse with her in order to destroy the Crystal Gems. Lapis agrees, but as soon as they fuse into Malachite, Lapis takes control and traps herself and Jasper as Malachite deep under the sea. Many episodes later, The crystal gems find Malachite and frees Lapis. But Jasper begs Lapis to fuse with her again. Jasper said she felt amazing, and believed that Malachite could be the most powerful gem in the world. But Lapis is very scarred and traumatized from the experience, and bravely refuses Jasper. The contrast between these two fusions represents the contrast between a good versus a bad relationship. The younger audience will go through good and bad relationships when they grow up, therefore the show's truthful depiction of these relationships is important and goes unnoticed.

The last true topic shown in Steven Universe is their coverage of mental illness. In a recent episode "Mindful Education", the audience gets to see deeper into the anxiety of Steven and his friend Connie. Connie accidentally hurt a kid at school in the hallway and felt very guilty about it. Steven has also gone through similar, but must worst experiences being a Crystal Gem and having to fight and hurt other gems. Neither one of them wants to talk about/confront their anxieties, therefore they fall apart when they fuse into Stevonnie. Garnet tells them they must think about the bad things in order to move on. They sing a duet called "Here Comes a Thought" in which they calm their nerves together as a fusion. Anxiety can begin at a very young age and can affect someone awfully if they don't deal with it right. Another mental illness hinted at in the show is depression through Lapis. She is real messed up after she is released from Malachite, and has a very pessimistic and sullen attitude. Even before this, she didn't care much for her own safety. But Steven shows her some of the beautiful things on Earth, and she becomes friends with another gem named Peridot who has also had a bad experiences with Jasper. Finding comfort and happiness in the world and in your friends is another true coping method the show introduces to it's audience. These illnesses are often avoided on even adult television, so the fact that Steven Universe chose to cover really justifies how progressive the cartoon is.

Steven Universe is one of the only cartoons that truly captures what it means to live in America. Rebecca Sugar has truly shown how a children's show can still cover real world topics with shoving ideas in their face. I highly recommend this Cartoon Network show, and look forward to how it will continue to cover true topics in the future.

Kanye West: “Bounded” to Gender and Unrealistic Relationship Stereotypes

Kanye West is a man almost everyone knows, and most likely has an opinion on. Kanye, the controversial rapper known as “yeezy” is infamous for having a bad reputation and responsible for being self centered and crazy. Being one of today’s most talked about celebrity, he has a very powerful influence on culture and is also a very strong reflection of it. Kanye’s music is apart of a very popular culture trend that enforces previous stereotypes and also creates new ad questionable controversial ones as well. In one of Kanye’s most popular song “Bound 2” released in 2013 reflects today's society and ideals for men and women. “Bound 2” depicts a false stereotypes on the ideology of what a man is, how marriage is valued in American society, and how love is conveyed in order to be true.

Bound 2 depicts a the ideal for what makes a man and how a man should act. Throughout the song Kanye contemplated whether he should give up his past lifestyle in order to be with the women he loves. He is tired of meaningless flings and unrequited love as revealed in the hook “I know you're tired of lovin', of lovin' With nobody to love, nobody, nobody” Kanye knows that his new love also feels the same way, and in order to be happy, he needs to be with her. Kanye also remembers his past lifestyle and past relationships throughout the song. He is aware of his known bad reputation and how he is considered a player. In the song he admits to being a heartbreaker. He tends to have a “leave a pretty-girl-sad-reputation”. He is referring to his very public breakups with Alexis Phifer and Amber Rose. Kanye also references how he is “backstroking” through women in order to perfect them .By saying this he admits to using women for his own personal gain. He is also conveying an ideal that men should be with many women in their life, and in fact are helping women by doing this. They are helping these women by giving them practice or guidance. Because Kanye has such a prevalent influence in culture, his own personal life is being held up as a pinnacle for other men to live up to.

Kanye also reveals his own stance of marriage. Kanye is starting fresh with his new love in order to be with her forever, and soon get married. He is “bound” to one women for the rest of his life and is ready to be with her effortlessly till he dies. In the line “but first, you gon remember how to forget’” he is explaining how his new love will ultimately forget about his past mistakes and bring forth her unconditional partnership despite his previous blunders. This depicts the idea the fairytale lifestyle that is marriage and partnership. Kanye is expressing that when in a committed partnership, it is the duty to one partner to completely forget about the misbehaving and questionable antics of the partner, without any type of backlash or doubts. This unrealistic portrayal of partnership and marriage disguises the rough and troubling truth that today’s relationships go through. Overall Bound 2 is an untrue story because of the way it idealizes both men and women and unrealistically personifies modern love and relationships.

Gamergate is Dumb, or Everything Wrong With Nerd Culture

I am a nerd. A huge one. Most of my friends are nerds too.  My life is probably best chronicled by a series of obsessions, bouncing from one hobby to the next like some sort of socially awkward pinball. So when someone like me, someone who spent the past six years on message boards and in hobby shops, says that nerd culture sucks, I'd like to believe that it holds some weight.

Gamergate, for those of you unaware, started in 2013 when someone named Zoe Quinn made a game called Depression Quest, a game chronicling Quinn's experiences with depression. Critics were lukewarm, but most of them praised the (admittedly short) game as an insightful look into the mind of someone with depression. The community, on the other hand, thought it was awful. One user left a review saying, "This game is free and I still want a refund". The schism between these two points of view was so stark that it brought about a massive conversation that left everyone shouting and nobody satisfied.

Rumors went around that Quinn slept with game critics who then gave her good reviews. As a supposed ex-boyfriend's testimony came out, online harassment reached a fever pitch. Someone released her address to the public, several people sent rape threats. Over and over, the community  rallied around some woman who they felt was too invasive of gaming culture, and made their life a living hell. Media critic Anita Sarkeesian made several videos about sexism in video games, and as a result received death threats from people saying she didn't know what she was talking about. Someone threatened to bomb a university where she was scheduled to give a speech.

 At the same time, popular video game media outlets like Kotaku and Polygon began railing against "Gamergaters", which led the community to dig into their past as well in an attempt to prove that they too, were corrupt. One by one, media outlets turned against this movement, calling the gaming community misogynistic and childish. The inevitable response from the community was some condemnation of ethics proven by an article , and the cycle began anew. The death knell of #gamergate came when it received national attention, and the general public condemned the movement as being childish and sexist.

From the perspective of video game journalists and feminists, Gamergate was about the problems in video game culture. From the perspective of "Gamergaters", it was about "ethics in video game journalism", which should give you an idea of how detached from reality this movement was. They saw themselves as modern-day investigative journalists, uncovering the filthy crimes of a corrupt industry while crusading against the tyranny of political correctness. What they were actually doing was going on a series of baseless witch hunts, making several people miserable and reinforcing stereotypes about nerd culture along the way.

These stereotypes are not baseless. This is not some small group of hateful trolls, emerged from the darkest depths of the internet. This is a culture fostered in the days when being a nerd was something to be ashamed of, not something a pop star mentioned casually in a GQ article. Nerd Culture is what happens when a group of antisocial white guys spends 30 years isolated from the outside world, and then corporate success throws the door wide open. Suddenly anyone can spend hours playing video games without having to be an outcast. Being a nerd used to be a trial by fire- now it's just an adjective. For someone who had to go so much to earn that title back then, it's frustrating to think that new initiates got the title but don't deserve it.

Which brings me to women in gaming. From the perspective of a community that was predominantly male for decades, women look like outsiders. From the perspective of a community of social outcasts, women seem complex and inhuman. From the perspective of women, video games and video game culture are really interesting, but there's this massive online presence constantly demanding that they prove their worth. When Anita Sarkeesian makes one mistake in a video, there are a thousand angry men citing it as proof that she isn't a "real gamer". When Zoe Quinn makes a below average game and gets good reviews, they see the walls of their boys-only club caving in.

Nerd culture was originally created by boys, for boys. Decades later, the demographic might be changing, but the stigma still hasn't. But maybe if us nerds could stop walling women out, we could build a community that I'm not ashamed of.

Domesticity Can be Progressive

The progression of gender equality in America has come a long way. Women now are presented with more opportunities than ever before for agency, expression, and equality in American society. Specifically, there has been a large increase in the amount of women in the work force. Many women are now breaking away from stereotypical domestic roles to pursue jobs in many different fields. But, as women have begun to take on less domestic roles in society, the idea of being domestic has now become a trait that is often looked down upon. Many traditionally domestic women are often shunned for their domestic role, and are seen as perpetuating a stereotype, even if the stereotype is something they want to uphold and something that personally gives them agency. Many women in America who choose to pursue domestic roles are often criticized for their perceived un-progressive actions, however making a choice in and of itself is quite progressive.

During the mid-nineteenth century, a new ideology regarding women came to be called “The Cult of True Womanhood.” This ideology stated that women had to be four things: pious, domestic, submissive, and pure. Implementing these traits, these women acted as the moral backbone for their husbands in the workforce and for their children living at home. Though this ideology could be seen and close minded, demeaning, and repressive for women, some women did find agency in the home, living by “Cult”standards. These women took pride in being the supporter and backbone of their husbands and children and were like skilled artists, with their homes being their medium. In a way, by being submissive, these women found freedom. Now in a time when women can more freely choose their careers and life paths, being domestic is looked down upon, because ideologies like the “Cult” and other oppressive figures once enforced the idea of domesticity on women. But, even as some women found agency being domestic when it was forced on them, women now can find agency in domesticity as their life path.

For a large period of my younger life, my mother chose to quit her job to become a full-time mother, taking care of my sister and me. When my mother was asked about her career, I remember her always quietly replying that she was a stay-at-home mother, almost as if she was embarrassed. My mother often felt like she had to justify why she took on a domestic-role because society suggests that if you are a woman not making money and in a home environment, you are not working hard and that your chosen life path is easy. Society looked down on my mother’s choice to take on a domestic role because they perceived it as anti-feminist and anti-progressive, but that was my mother’s personal career choice, which is progressive. Though in history women were often forced into domestic roles, now when women choose to take on domestic roles it is looked down upon. The condemnation of a choice to be a stay-at-home mother does not give these mothers the opportunity to express agency, but instead this condemnation is quite anti-progressive. Though people may think condemnation encourages feminism, one is criticizing the free choice of a woman when condemning a stay-at-home mother and this criticism is very anti-feminist.

When First Lady Michelle Obama decided to give up her career as a lawyer and writer to focus on taking care of her two daughters, many people were upset at her decision. Individuals believed that Michelle was wasting all of her hard work and schooling on focusing on the care of her children. But, the decision to take care of her two daughters was ultimately made by Michelle, and she sets a good example to fellow mothers to listen to yourself when deciding to become a stay-at-home mother or not. Though individuals could argue that Michelle sets a bad example because she encourages women to take on stereotypical domestic roles, she in fact is a great role model to show that it is okay to be domestic if it is your own personal choice and desire. At this point in her life, Michelle wishes to focus on taking care of her children and this may not be a permanent choice. Michelle may choose to go back to a career in law or writing in the future. The most important thing is Michelle is deciding her own life path and setting an example to other women that they should make their own decisions too. This ability to choose one’s own life path is progressive.

We live in a time where women are presented with more choices than ever before. Though the opportunity to participate in the work force is a progressive opportunity for women, it does not give individuals the right to criticize women who personally choose to be stay-at-home mothers. If these women desire to take on traditionally domestic roles, their personal decision to do so is quite liberal and feminist because these women are deciding their own futures. The still reigning issue regarding domesticity in society is the way society often portrays domesticity as being submissive to the patriarchal expectations of American society. Women should be able to take on a domestic role if they wish, a working role if they wish, or even both roles. The next task for progressive America is to make those decisions of equal value economically, socially, and personally.

Men Vs. Women

For many years, men have been viewed as superior to women in society. Men were seen as the strong providers and caretakers of the family. Men worked outside of the home, earning money and creating new relationships. While men were playing these major roles in society, women were pushed into the shadows. Women were expected to stay in the home, care for children, cook, clean, and take care of other household chores. Although this expectation of these two roles have changed in today's society, discrimination toward women have become more evident.

Gender inequality exists everywhere in the Unites States, especially socially. Because of this inequality, stereotypes began to emerge. These stereotypes limit women in society because they are afraid of being labeled. Feminist activist Betty Friedan states, “The problem that has no name — which is simply the fact that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities — is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.” If a woman takes on a more masculine role in society, she is considered a "dyke" or "tomboy". If a woman takes on a more feminine role in society, she is considered "girly" "uppity". Women who take on the more feminine role are usually praised or admired for doing so. By taking on this role, women are seen as more womanly. If a woman decides to partake in manly activities, such as certain sports, she is not considered as womanly. Physical appearance also plays a role in these stereotypes. These stereotypes develop due to the pictures that society paints of the ideal woman. 


These stereotypes influence the roles that women choose to play in society. Jobs also influence stereotypes. If an "uppity" woman works a job that is seen as mainly for males, she would be seen as "bitchy". This stereotype applies to women in politics as well. If a "tomboy" woman works a job that is seen as mainly for males, she will still be discriminated against.

Why Men Act and Women Appear but Neither Do it Perfectly

John Berger's claim that "men act and women appear" is true in the sense that it takes autonomy from women and gives freedom, along with imposed responsibilities, onto men. The trade is naturally unequal in man's favor, but it fails to articulate the metaphor even further to argue that it's not a completely one sided issue; some men suffer from being looked upon to act and most if not all women suffer from being expected to appear. These duties are expected due to tradition, reinforced through media, and only completely understood by experience.
The expectation of women to present themselves without contributing to any topic at hand has been around in many cultures since the beginning of modern society. In the U.S, it was already established by the time Europeans first set foot on American soil. Without voting rights, which were only given less than 100 years ago, women lacked a voice in government. Before then, during the 19th century, the cult of domesticity was created which is essentially Berger's thesis at its strongest, put in terms that make sense given the conservative social climate of the time period. Although women were not expected to appear sexy, there was a high standard for what made a women pure. Women during this time had no part in economic or troubles involving jobs; those were jobs for men. A woman also was not considered decent if she had sex outside of marriage. Women's role in society was to stay at home as a beacon of purity for men to return from the gritty outside world to and regain their strength.
Over the times this notion has evolved to where the same dynamic exists but the expectations have changed slightly. The sex-crazy times of today are enforced by music about the importance of sex, fictional works displaying the importance of sex, and even the ironically unimportant school-age competition of having the most sex. In these conditions, women are expected to appear suitable, attractive, or capable, while men judge their ability to have these qualities by looking at them. Women are no longer expected to appear pious and moral. Instead they are supposed to appear desirable in any way. Since sex is such a hot topic at this point in time, attractiveness is really the key factor, when this claim proves true, for determining whether a woman is desirable for sex, a job, a conversation, a friend, and more. I once asked my female friend what girls look for in guys and she responded with personality characteristics when I was expecting physical ones, as that is typically what men talk about regarding what they look for in women. Men can do whatever they want to get your attention but if a woman sits still, looks pretty, and doesn't open her mouth, many times these two are seen as having equal footing.
Obviously this hurts women's ability to think for herself. I can infer that after being viewed as an object for so long the average girl begins to see herself as nothing but a pretty face, making the "women appear" phenomenon a sad self-fulfilling prophecy. However, being male, I cannot elaborate on this claim without assuming too much about the culmination of thousands of unique experiences of women in the United States. What I can do is provide examples from the male perspective of why, although being allowed to 'act' is a good thing, men are sometimes subjected to high expectations as well.
I'm not suggesting that the male experience is as bad or worse than the female's, simply that neither side wins in this issue. Berger phrased his thesis as if men are given freedom and therefore "win" over women who aren't given it. However, in the experiences of myself and some of my close friends, while women sit and look pretty, men have to do all the do-ing, mainly when it comes to sex and success. One friend I have complained on a regular basis to me about how little he cares about sex despite how much his girlfriend did. Every time he went to her house he would show her some movie he wanted to share with her but she was only interested in appearing desirable to him. Once or twice he openly stated that he didn't feel like having sex and his girlfriend kept prodding him until he gave up. When discussed with our other friends they responded thinking he was joking, thinking it was ludicrous that a guy would ever opt to not have sex. Men are also expected to be successful. This is in one way a good thing as it implies that men are capable of becoming successful. When a women doesn't become rich and famous it's seen as normal, which is a sad truth in itself, but when a man fails to do so, he's seen as a failure of the gender. Of course not all experiences fit perfectly into the mold, but the claim that "men act and women appear" would be more accurate if it made the argument that men are seen as tools in addition to the argument that women are seen as objects.

Ways of Seeing: Subjects vs Objects

Since hunter-gatherer societies, women had the dominate role in family life, providing most of the food. Up until plow agriculture society, we see a shift from matriarchal dominance to patriarchal dominance. With this shift, came different cultural responsibilities. Although women should be seen in society as equals to men, often their roles in society are marginalized primarily by men, and they are seen as objects while men are seen as the subjects.

Berger argues that "Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." Men have a tendency to look at women and sexualize them, thus deeming them as objects. When men sexualize women they are looking at only their physical appearance. Their intellectual aspects are not being taken into account. For example, we see the male gaze as a prime demonstration of the sexualization of women. Even in movies, when a female enters the scene, often the camera angle is shot from toe to head. Additional effects like slow music or wind blowing her hair contribute to the sexualization of women and how men view them from the male point of view. Furthermore, the use of women as "badges" also prove that men demean the role of women to objects. In a patriarchal society, men are competing to show who has more power. If your female partner is attractive and good looking with the "trophy wife" characteristics, men brag about this to other males. By bragging about the attractiveness of a female partner, men are demeaning the importance of women, as if their only role is to be the best looking object they can be. When males objectify women, they are taking away their agency, a key component of being a subject.

While men marginalize the roles of women, they simultaneously upgrade their role to be the subjects in society. In a patriarchal society, males feel the need to constantly be masculine and prove their masculinity. They look to the female counterpart to cater to the needs of theirs. For example, when males come home from work, they expect the women to have dinner prepared, the house clean, and everything in order. Everything revolves around the male. With patriarchal dominance comes the center role that males assume. Similar to the house-wife stereotype, men make themselves superior to women by assigning them the responsibilities they don't want. For example, women have been known to be the child care givers in families. Men refuse to do the domesticated work in order to prove their masculinity. For example, when a man says, "You should really change the diaper, I'm not good at it," he is centering gender roles around himself, deeming himself as the object. By centering society around the male gender, men are continuing to contribute to patriarchal gender roles, which is problematic because it further narrows the gender binary and doesn't effectively represent the capabilities of women.  

Even though Berger argues that women are the ones objectifying themselves, men primarily contribute to the oppression of women through sexualization, objectifying, assigning inferior roles to women, and assuming the centering roles for themselves. The power and control men have in a male chauvinism society marginalizes the role of women without conveying their important impacts on society.

Robbed By Society

It seems that the movement for gender equality has made impressive gains in the past century through the 19th Amendment in 1920, through which women gained the right to vote. It also seems, however, that gender inequality continues to be ingrained in American culture and society. John Berger, author of Ways of Seeing furthers this view. He writes, “men act and women appear.” By this statement, John Berger means to show how men still play a dominant role in American society, in that men act towards women in a certain way, and women act as passive subjects to this action. In this way, women are forced into a certain passivity by various facets of society, and placed in an inferior position in comparison to men, who able to act with much more agency.

One way in which women are seen to “appear” is society is through the media and entertainment. There are countless examples of movies, especially action movies, that only portray women for their sexuality and body, while men receive much more substantive roles. Some examples include the James Bond Movies and Scarlett Johanssen as Black Widow in The Avengers, to name a few. Furthermore in movies such as Sicario, the female character is constantly making mistakes and always seems to have a feeling of uncertainty, while the male characters are the ones who are portrayed as certain and ultimately tell the female character what to do. In this way, women do “appear’” but do not “act” in way that would make them equal to how men are portrayed. While it might be a little extreme to say that women are entirely robbed of their agency in movies, although this may true for a few films, women characters are usually portrayed as inferior and passive objects in comparison to the male characters that they interact with.

The passivity to which women are subjected to by American society is also apparent in social media and popular culture. Most people have probably seen the line “Go make me a sandwich woman,” paired with some sort of picture. Although, admittedly, this phrase is probably intended as a joke, it still shows evidence of what should be seen as antiquated thinking about the roles of women in American society. Phrases like these are common throughout social media and underscore the blatantly false idea that women serve men. Furthermore, advertisements that we are bombarded with everyday, promote the view that women are merely passive subjects of a man’s actions by portraying women as objects, robbing them of agency, and giving them only appearance.

Outside of entertainment and popular culture, the idea of “men act and women appear” is also apparent in the discrimination of women in the workforce. Besides a wage gap between men and women of 21 percent, most fields seem to be male dominated, which makes it much harder for women to secure a job. Furthermore, the social stigma that women are to be bastions of the household and take a leading role in taking care of children add another dimension to finding a job that men do not usually encounter. With this in mind, it can be seen that women are placed in an inferior position to men when it comes to the workplace.

John Berger seems to have correctly described the way American society still holds, less obvious, but equally injurious inequalities concerning gender when he wrote “men act and women appear.” Time and time again we see the pervasive realities of gender inequality in this country. We need look no farther than our own school and the debate concerning the graduation dress versus the cap and gown. Whatever the case may be, it is important that we be cognizant of the existence of the inequality and attempt to understand it, so that we may work to fix this problem that is so deeply rooted in American culture and society.

Society Doesn't Provide a lot of Choice

In today’s society, women are often glorified and praised for the “amazing victory” in their fight against social equality injustice. Since the early twentieth century, women have built momentum to establish suffrage, guarantee equal educational rights, and pursue careers. However, as in modern America, while women are shown as “confident” individuals, women are often portrayed to be a glowing and an eye-striking object. Magazines target young women and produce an unrealistic image of what women must aspire to be. Moreover, companies’ advertisements use the unrealistic image not only to sell a product, but to promote a culture that will further harm women’s efforts to prominently advance in society. Society is a combination of all distinct parts of American pop culture; a system in which women are stuck to the types of burdens that may force women to unconsciously assume roles of earlier time periods. Despite women’s recent historical triumphs, modern American women still experience the unrelenting pressure and objectifying societal oppression to revert to original social functions.

Women are usually subject to several forms of pressure society creates. Gloria Steinem, a leader of a modern women’s rights movement, once stated, “I've yet to be on a campus where most women weren't worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children, and a career. I've yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing.” Here, Steinem expresses her concern for the state of welfare a woman struggles to cope through in today’s society. Women have to conquer all; From juggling a full-time career, to a stay-at-home mother, women must live up to the high expectations. These daily important “promises” women must face add additional stress to one’s life. Women are still perceived to be the primary caretakers; they are required to balance a job to support one’s family and at the same time smoothly operate the household. Additionally, Steinem emphasizes the pressure a woman has to marry and birth children. Even in twentieth-first century, this original motive of a woman’s purpose is still prominent. Her concern alone demonstrates how the norm for women has not changed tremendously. Surrounding young women in this type of culture proves only to damage their perception of self-worth and for a woman to give in to her standard domestic ideals.

Furthermore, some men believe that since they are not women, they do not have the responsibility to deal with the problems surrounding women. Many men often overlook the problems of women, as modern society has created a place for men to be deemed “safe” from any female influence. For example, women still are not payed as much as men in jobs; women only obtain 79% of what men earn. Despite countless actions to rally behind this type of affirmative action, women fail to meet the earnings of men. It is outrageous for women to compromise this inequity. Women may then think that because they do not earn as much as men, it is unfair and pointless for them (to work as hard and then not receive such compensation) to continue on with their work. Ultimately, the gap between pay wages gives women another discouragement to abandon their cause (more so than to motivate). These states of disappointments additionally cause the slow progression and lack of motivation to move forward. Society provides women with a "solution" to return to their domestic/sex objects ideals that has dominated America the past two hundred years.

Moreover, the societal portrayal of women through different outlets of media cause women to be controlled and oppressed. In an US Weekly magazine publication, Michelle Obama is victim to the stereotypical mother role. The title depicts ‘why Barack loves her’ and how she ‘shops at target.’ US Weekly displays Obama’s motherly features but does not give any regard or power towards Obama’s earlier success in life. Popular modern magazines reinforce the nurturing aspect of women and do not give much credit to any sufficient amount of success in a woman’s life. In addition, other magazines targeted towards men, such as Sports Illustrated, displays women in an unfortunate way. The swimsuit edition includes a full title page of a women dressed in a skimpy bikini. These women are trained to be sex objects for the entire American audience. Young women will most likely see such representation and figure that to be a sex object is a woman's man goal in life. Magazines cannot have such depictions because the image revealed from doing so limits women's options to be seen differently from the rest of America.

Furthermore, in Gucci’s commercial for its perfume, Bamboo, a woman wears revealing clothing while mysteriously whispering into a man’s ear. The woman then begins to have control over the man with her increasingly promiscuous clothing and mystifying eye glances. This commercial supports the woman as a seductress and does not give much chance for the woman to have a voice. Countless commercials similar to Gucci's are made and repeatedly bolster the condescending societal views. Women are often torn apart for their image and do not stand much chance unless society permits opportunities to seek escape from the atrocious disrespect. The underlying layers of today's modern society proves that little change has occurred from prior eras of women's rights movements.

Although the past couple hundred years has been full of effort to secure sex equality, the efforts are often dismissed and discouraged. Women do have the power and the supreme, concentrated motivation to instill true and equal beliefs in societal opinions. I believe that as time goes on, women’s status in society will eventually progress. Additionally, I believe that together we can break these stereotypes that overhang women. Women have the potential to improve extensively, and will continue on to fight endlessly until the ultimate goal is reached. 

Men Act and Women Appear

Although the United States would like to think that sexism in an issue of the past, the imprint of misogyny is ingrained into Western culture. Women in the United States, today, are no longer denied the right to vote or prohibited from participating in sports, but twenty-first century sexism is much harder to detect. Gender inequality, however, pervades every aspect of Western culture. According to John Berger in his Ways of Seeing, "men act and women appear." Berger was not undermining the achievements of women, but, instead, describing how women are viewed compared to their male counterparts. Because the importance of appearance is instilled so strongly in women, society impedes women from asserting authority over men. This impediment leads to the objectification of women in media that sets unattainable standards of femininity masculinity.

The feminine ideal of passiveness affects women in the job market and their ability to exhibit their achievements. A main point of Bernie Sanders' campaign in this presidential election is the wage discrepancy between men and women. According to studies, women make 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. This fact is often misunderstood, however. Generally, men and women are paid the same income for the same job. The income disparity comes from the higher likelihood of men to negotiate for raises or better benefits. These facts are not indicative of intentional sexism from business owners, but of the expectation of female passivity. Women are not expected to negotiate, debate or counter, but to idly agree with their male colleagues. In my experience in elementary school, if a girl was to assert her opinions, she was described as "bossy." If a boy took the same action as a leader, he would not experience negative repercussions. From a young age, therefore, women are conditioned to refrain from assertiveness and to value silence over sharing their true opinions. A woman, instead of exhibiting her intelligence, is concerned with the way she will be perceived as a leader.

Women are not only expected to be passive, but also are treated as objects in various forms of media. In almost all action movies, the lead character is a man who has seemingly superhuman abilities. These heroes are contrasted by a stale female character whose primary role is to exhibit her ideal female body. She lacks any depth or noticeable talents besides her sexual allure. This portrayal of women, that garners millions of dollars in box offices, represents how women are seen in society. Additionally, women are not allowed to be old in movies, television and other forms of media, because they lose their sexual appeal with age. Men, however, are valued for more than their appearance, and can still be renowned actors in their advanced age. This inequality was shown in Star Wars: The Force Awakens when many people scrutinized Carrie Fischer's looks. Yet, this scrutiny was hypocritical because Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill also returned as older characters, but were not subject to the same criticism.

The sexual appeal of the female body in media pressures women to alter their natural appearance. To be a socially acceptable Western woman, she must shave, wear makeup and exercise frequently to stay thin. My sister told me that at her college, the University of Washington, the school recently created a separate weight gym for women. My sister had conflicting opinions on the new gym because she did feel intimidated when she was in the weight gym that was dominated by men, but she wished more women would lift when they exercised. She said it annoyed her that while men work out to bulk up and gain muscle, women just work out to lose weight and stay thin. I never realized the implication of comparing how men and women exercise to gender roles in the United States. As John Berger said, "men act and women appear."

The idea that "men act and women appear" is not to undermine the accomplishments of women, or to say that all women are passive to their own oppression. Women have always actively opposed sexism, from George Sand to Frances Perkins, but surreptitious forms of misogyny is prevalent in the representation of women in Western culture. 

Slowly But Surely Wins the Race

2016 has the potential to make history for many reasons, one of the most prominent being the very real possibility of having the first female president. This has given rise to a nation-wide discussion on gender roles, feminism, and women’s rights. This is definitely not the first time in American history that feminism has gained traction; in fact, it is usually seen as third (or even fourth) wave feminism. The early waves of feminism focused directly on problems that were blatantly wrong in society (such as the right to vote). In more recent years, however, the focus of the feminist movement has shifted away from more obvious issues and has begun to attack the underlying, oppressive ideals still visible in society today. Although most of the oppressive dominant ideologies surrounding women in society are not consciously practiced by the large majority, lasting remnants of these ideals can be seen in the inequality which women in America face on a daily basis.

One of the most prominent examples of this underlying bias is in the inequalities between men and women in the workforce. During the early feminist movements, this inequality was obvious; women were simply told not to work outside the home because the “public sphere” was for men. Today, this inequality is not so obvious, and in fact, some women (and men) do not realize it exists. In today’s society it is perfectly acceptable for a woman to work outside the home, and it is even encouraged and promoted. Unfortunately, even though most women feel that they can work outside the home without being ridiculed for it, women also feel that it will be harder for them to succeed in society, because the workplace itself is unequal. For starters, the average woman in America gets paid 79 cents to every male dollar. This is a blatant appearance of inequality, yet it is too often overlooked because people do not realize it exists. Those who do can sometimes be discouraged from putting in their maximum effort because they know no matter how hard they try, they will still be rewarded less than their male counterpart. Another problem with the workforce is the imbalance of women to men in certain jobs, particularly those involving engineering or computer science. The ratio of men to women is startlingly high in these professions, which leaves both a bad and good impression on women. On one side, it is somewhat daunting to enter an occupation dominated by men, but on the other, this imbalance has led to an increase in demand for women interested in these professions, making it more likely for them to get a job. Unfortunately, this inequality can still deter women from entering the workforce out of fear of seeming hypermasculine or bossy.

Another aspect of bias in American society is that revolving around women participating in sports. These days, no one openly rejects the thought of a girl participating in a sport; just like working outside the home, it is now encouraged. This support, however strong it may be, does not diminish the fact that women’s athletics simply are not given the support and funding that men’s are. For example, at my school, the football team (which consists of all males), is by far the most promoted sport in the building. Almost all resources are devoted to spreading the word about football games during the fall season, and the same goes for basketball (and somewhat baseball) during the winter and spring. There is next to no publicity for any girls sport, during any season. This creates an air around girls sports that they are not as legitimate and are not as important, which can be discouraging toward high school girl athletes. This inequality can also be seen on a national scale. It is rare to see coverage of a women’s game or tournament on prime tv, but a men’s football or baseball game is a normal occurrence. This inequality dampens young girls from striving to achieve great things in athletics, because once again, they know they will not be as rewarded for their efforts as their brothers will be. 

A third aspect of daily life that women often feel constricted within is sexuality. Whether it is wanting to wait until marriage to have sex, or having the agency to have sex as much as she wants, women are almost always portrayed in a negative way. A woman who wants to wait is often portrayed by the media as prudent and even rude, while a woman who is sexually open is portrayed as slutty and a whore. These appearances make women feel as though their sex lives are something to be kept a complete secret, out of fear of being publicly ridiculed. On the contrary, men who want to wait to have sex are portrayed as innocent and cute, and if they are open about their sex lives, they are uplifted and even praised for it. This is a clear inequality that oppresses women and makes them feel ashamed to have natural human desires.

The fight for gender equality is far from over, but it has come a long way since it started. Now that women in American society have the tools to attack the deeply-rooted stereotypes that are engraved in the large majority’s minds, even more substantial progress can be made. Equality, however, will never be fully achieved unless women feel that they have the same capabilities, success rates, and freedom that men do.

What if it was you?

The female experience for the modern woman may have gotten more equal and/or bearable throughout the years, but by no means is it equal to that of a man's. Objectification is a huge factor of why women are not seen as equals; women are seen as objects, in the eyes of most men. As of very recently, I have identified myself as a feminist, although I never really understood the extent to which women truly suffer because of this objectification. I recently came upon a gem, a short film which asks a simple question to men: what if it was you?

Oppressed Majority is a video that very expertly flip-flops society, putting women into the position of social and economic power, and follows around a man during a day of his life. The events of the video are slightly NSFW: to portray the common man running without his shirt on, the women joggers are not wearing shirts, and there are slight levels of violence. As the man's day progresses, the events become more and more morally troubling, starting at slightly disturbing and eventually ending at a level of the complete violation of rights.

The video begins with the man walking down the street with his son, getting a few comments from women passing by, ranging from "keep smiling, cutie," to "lookin' good." This may seem harmless looking from the outside, but in the perspective of the man, it's weird to have strangers compliment you nonstop, which is what women today have to deal with constantly. It gets even more frustrating when the man goes to pick up his mail, and an acquaintance woman begins to talk to him about business, and stops in the middle of a sentence and says, "you know, I should probably be talking to your wife about this, huh?" This degrades the intelligence and usefulness of the man (therefore the woman in today's society), ultimately making him feel like crap.



The man eventually gets sexually and physically assaulted by a group of girls in an alley (after dropping off his son at daycare, run by a man submissive to his wife), where he afterwards goes to a police station. The policewoman interviewing him was very skeptical and/or unimpressed with his claim, even saying (with a condescending tone), "assaulted in broad daylight, with no witnesses. Who would have thought?" To which the man breaks down crying, and goes out to wait for his wife to pick him up.

After he and his sympathetic wife are leaving the station, the man seems to be severely traumatized, and then breaks down over the overly oppressing "feminist society," to which his wife scolds him for, saying "I can't stand your masculinist nonsense," and then commenting on the clothes he wears, how he may as well have been asking for it.

This video was a unique way of portraying to me, and possibly all males, what women have to deal with constantly in today's society: from sexual objectification, to physical/sexual harassment, to not being taken seriously, and everything in-between. This video has made me realize the true horrors of objectification, and make me even more obligated to fight for the end of it.

Stupid Girls Aren't Stupid

In 2006, P!nk released a new song, Stupid Girls, on her I'm Not Dead album. This song was awarded the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video and nominated for many other awards, such as a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. An example of the lyrics include:

"What happened to the dreams of a girl president
She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two or three
With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees
Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?
Oh where, oh where could they be?"

P!nk uses satire to mock society's sexualization and objectification of women. She explicitly points out the women in music videos. She targets the all-too-familiar image that the women in many music videos, especially rap, hardly wear any clothing while dancing provocatively. These said women are seen as the rapper's trophies and accomplishments which he then praises in his song. Their value consists only of their beauty and their ability to satisfy a man's wishes. While male rap videos are an extreme example referenced by P!nk, she also targets societal pressures on a woman as a whole. She sings, "Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back/ Baby if I act like that, flipping my blond hair back/ Push up my bra like that, I don't wanna be a stupid girl" depicting that women do these things to be accepted in our society. While she's criticizing the women who act like this, P!nk still describes having to face the pressure to conform and act the same way.

P!nk's larger motive isn't to criticize these women, but to criticize our society that shoves these "ideals" onto women to be accepted. Our society's image of a woman is a docile, sexual object whose interests and skills have no influence on her value, just her physical appearance. P!nk's bigger picture is how our media depicts a limited view of women which in turn influences young girls to believe that this is how they need to shape themselves to be. The media places a huge pressure on females to abide by the images that represent the gender. By P!nk creating this song and getting it out there, she is taking action on changing and questioning society's image of women.