OPINION: A View on Feminism
Written by Julia Sydorova and Melody Hou
What we call for is gender equality, not feminism, as it may sound like undue favour of women's rights, which can be unfair to the men. In our society, men and women are both confined to a stereotype impression. For example, men are pressured to behave hyper-masculine or laughed at if they don't. People are less acceptable for men to cry or to expose their pain. This is the strict standard society that has been imposed on the men. Besides, we also have a misunderstanding of women's rights. Women are often judged by extreme beauty standards. And often, they are criticized when violating so-called traditional rules; for example, women are born to be the virtuous wife. These forms of oppression and objectifying are damaging our whole society.
Neither gender should have to live with these pressures. We realize that this just scratches the surface of the problems that men and women face around the world, however we wanted to take it into pieces and bring them to the student body. |
What are some stereotypical stories media tell about women? What are some stereotypical stories media tell about men? Give some examples of each. What patterns of differences do you see between these two kinds of typical narratives?
In the past, we often see that the media portrays the woman's body as underweight, boney, and skinny. Models keep getting thinner and thinner. If they are not thin enough, Photoshop is used to make them appear thinner. Underrepresentation of Women is a primary way in which media distorts reality is in underrepresenting women. Men are pressured to behave hyper-masculine or laughed at if they don't. People are less acceptable for men to cry or to expose their pain. This is the strict standard society that has been imposed on men. Now, because the world is changing, we see more average women’s bodies in advertisements. Men basically don’t live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged – whereas women and girls do.
We think the pattern is that the media is trying to do something to the extreme because they are either advertising super skinny bodies or obese bodies. However, neither of them are healthy. This is becoming an issue to society because it makes people think that it is okay to judge people who are skinny but not people who are obese. For example, an Instagrammer Tess Holliday is trying to promote that it is okay to be obese and not care about what you eat. I (Melody) personally think that is not true because obesity is unhealthy and it can cause so many health problems like cardiovascular diseases.
Do you think the work of the women’s movement is done, for the most part, or do you think there is more for it to do? Be specific.
The history of feminism is filled with radicals and progressives and liberals and centrists. It’s filled with splinter movements and reactionary counter-movements. That’s part of what it means to be both an intellectual tradition and a social movement, and right now feminism is functioning as both with a gorgeous and monumental vitality. Rather than devouring their own, feminists should recognize the enormous work that has done for the movement.
In my opinion (Melody), the work of the women’s movement is not done because there are still many issues that exist like stereotypes about feminists. There is so much more to deal with the extreme situation about women’s bodies, not to be stereotyped, and finally gender equality.
Although there are still many issues like stereotypes of women that exist, I (Julia) also do not think that it is done. The PayScale has been tracking the gender pay gap and the difference between the earnings of men and women has shrunk but there is still a difference. In 2019 it was seen that a woman makes only 79 cents for every dollar that a man makes. They have also concluded the fact that women are not as likely to hold high paying jobs than men because they tend to move slowly up the career ladder. If we looked at the controlled gender pay gap statistics it is seen that women earn 98 cents for every dollar made by a man with the same job and qualifications. Race also plays a role in the wage gap difference; it is seen that the biggest wage pay gap is is for American Indian and Alaska Native, Black and Hispanic women. These groups only earn 74 cents per every dollar that a man makes; therefore they earn 26 percent less than a white man. It was found that an equal percentage of both men and women start off as not managing people 74% and 75% respectively. A smaller portion of women will gain the role of a manager/supervisor level or greater in the middle of their careers. During mid-career 47% of men will reach the supervisor/manager level whereas the women are at 40%. During their late-career 57% of men are managers or higher, however, only 41% of women reach this level. Getting to the executive level during their late careers is unlikely because the percentage for that is only 3%.
How this article can connect to me (Julia) is that I am going into an area of study that is mainly male-dominated, however, things are starting to change. Women make up more than half of Canada’s population however are underrepresented in engineering education and the engineering profession. Although there have been steady increases with women being represented in engineering, males continue to dominate. Engineers Canada has a plan to increase the percentage of women in engineering up to 30 percent by 2030 and I support it. I will show that engineering is not only for men, it is also for women. This promotes more diversity, which relates to better outcomes such as increased innovation. Each year on June 23, Engineers Canada joins individuals and groups to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day. This day shines a spotlight on the achievements of women in engineering, shares successes and brings more awareness to the important work that women do to help design the infrastructure of our societies that we all depend on.
Engineering is not the only profession in which males dominate. Contractors, computer programmers, manufacturers, financial analysts, architects, pilots, and firefighters are to name a few; however, I wanted to end the article by stating that it doesn’t matter what gender or race you are, you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. Here are a few examples of women who are achieving high in these careers:
In the past, we often see that the media portrays the woman's body as underweight, boney, and skinny. Models keep getting thinner and thinner. If they are not thin enough, Photoshop is used to make them appear thinner. Underrepresentation of Women is a primary way in which media distorts reality is in underrepresenting women. Men are pressured to behave hyper-masculine or laughed at if they don't. People are less acceptable for men to cry or to expose their pain. This is the strict standard society that has been imposed on men. Now, because the world is changing, we see more average women’s bodies in advertisements. Men basically don’t live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged – whereas women and girls do.
We think the pattern is that the media is trying to do something to the extreme because they are either advertising super skinny bodies or obese bodies. However, neither of them are healthy. This is becoming an issue to society because it makes people think that it is okay to judge people who are skinny but not people who are obese. For example, an Instagrammer Tess Holliday is trying to promote that it is okay to be obese and not care about what you eat. I (Melody) personally think that is not true because obesity is unhealthy and it can cause so many health problems like cardiovascular diseases.
Do you think the work of the women’s movement is done, for the most part, or do you think there is more for it to do? Be specific.
The history of feminism is filled with radicals and progressives and liberals and centrists. It’s filled with splinter movements and reactionary counter-movements. That’s part of what it means to be both an intellectual tradition and a social movement, and right now feminism is functioning as both with a gorgeous and monumental vitality. Rather than devouring their own, feminists should recognize the enormous work that has done for the movement.
In my opinion (Melody), the work of the women’s movement is not done because there are still many issues that exist like stereotypes about feminists. There is so much more to deal with the extreme situation about women’s bodies, not to be stereotyped, and finally gender equality.
Although there are still many issues like stereotypes of women that exist, I (Julia) also do not think that it is done. The PayScale has been tracking the gender pay gap and the difference between the earnings of men and women has shrunk but there is still a difference. In 2019 it was seen that a woman makes only 79 cents for every dollar that a man makes. They have also concluded the fact that women are not as likely to hold high paying jobs than men because they tend to move slowly up the career ladder. If we looked at the controlled gender pay gap statistics it is seen that women earn 98 cents for every dollar made by a man with the same job and qualifications. Race also plays a role in the wage gap difference; it is seen that the biggest wage pay gap is is for American Indian and Alaska Native, Black and Hispanic women. These groups only earn 74 cents per every dollar that a man makes; therefore they earn 26 percent less than a white man. It was found that an equal percentage of both men and women start off as not managing people 74% and 75% respectively. A smaller portion of women will gain the role of a manager/supervisor level or greater in the middle of their careers. During mid-career 47% of men will reach the supervisor/manager level whereas the women are at 40%. During their late-career 57% of men are managers or higher, however, only 41% of women reach this level. Getting to the executive level during their late careers is unlikely because the percentage for that is only 3%.
How this article can connect to me (Julia) is that I am going into an area of study that is mainly male-dominated, however, things are starting to change. Women make up more than half of Canada’s population however are underrepresented in engineering education and the engineering profession. Although there have been steady increases with women being represented in engineering, males continue to dominate. Engineers Canada has a plan to increase the percentage of women in engineering up to 30 percent by 2030 and I support it. I will show that engineering is not only for men, it is also for women. This promotes more diversity, which relates to better outcomes such as increased innovation. Each year on June 23, Engineers Canada joins individuals and groups to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day. This day shines a spotlight on the achievements of women in engineering, shares successes and brings more awareness to the important work that women do to help design the infrastructure of our societies that we all depend on.
Engineering is not the only profession in which males dominate. Contractors, computer programmers, manufacturers, financial analysts, architects, pilots, and firefighters are to name a few; however, I wanted to end the article by stating that it doesn’t matter what gender or race you are, you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. Here are a few examples of women who are achieving high in these careers:
- Julia Barfield: Founded an architect firm and it has won 60 awards (designed the London Eye).
- Meredith Westafer: A senior industrial engineer at Tesla. Meredith manages the design and layout of the world’s largest factory which creates the lithium-ion batteries that run Tesla vehicles.
- Maria Pettersson: A pilot who has over 250,000 Instagram followers and she shares photos of her travels. Pettersson also has a website where she gives information and advice about becoming a pilot.