13 thoughts on “Learning inequality all day long…”
This is so accurate. I didn’t notice this type of inequality (women constantly being naked or half naked as opposed to fully clothed men) until my girlfriend pointed it out and now I’m seeing it everywhere.
Hi Gene, that’s exatly how it works…once you reach a state of awareness there is not coming back. That’s why it’s so important to bring this kind of knowledge to young girls. They will actually start to see the world around them from a different perspective and become much more resilient 😉
It is so true Gene! Try watching half an hour of music videos now from different music channels. At the very least, every minute one of the channels will feature a half clad woman.
I think there will always be inequality no matter what we do or how we respond to social norms. I don’t think that it is meant to be that way, it has just been that way for so long that it’s hard to make a change overnight.
Hoping something this important can change overnight is futile.. but if enough people care over a long period and make an effort, history shows that a difference can be made..
Women today is very different from women long time ago. They used to stay at home and tend to be powerless. Now, we are more aware with our full potential and were doing everything to excel in areas that we are good at. I’m sad that despite of this women evolution, there are still women from other cultures who are still lingering in the past and unaware how valuable they are and they deserve education, respect and love. I hope time will come that the discrimination between genders will disappear and we realize that both genders can benefit for the success of one another.
True.. it is on the “up” but with that trend we branch into other problems.. One of the main ones now is marketing and large companies deciding how we see things….
You know, I’ve never really thought about this before. We do indeed live in a culture where women are so often portrayed almost-nude, but never the men. Think about the being on the beach even: it’s perfectly acceptable for men to take off their shirts and have a good time. Well, if a women does this, it’s a completely different story (probably ending with an arrest or a ticket at the very least). Why is that?
This evening I was sent a link to a Brazilian rap artist that I normally listen to on the radio exclusively. Typically his music is upbeat, catchy, and relatively tame in content. He speaks of his sister and mother in almost every song, alluding to his upbringing by his grandmother and if it wasn’t for them he would have amounted to nothing. Today he released a video on YouTube to his latest club hit and the contrast between video and lyrics was baffling. Bikini clad women in thongs and heels dancing about suggestively as he sat idly in a soccer jersey on a yacht was the theme (though his song was on keeping children out of trouble and off the street).
Comments from YouTubers who were unaware of the songs lyrics seemed to be more interested in the voluptuous women and thus rose his stock on YouTube significantly. There were an occasional dissenter but majority of the comments were from men and they shared a common love of booty shaking and expressed it quite openly. Some even went as far as soliciting female commenters for sexual favors.
And I’ve noticed that most of the women I see half naked are not plus sized. So, it gives girls and idea that they have to be naked and super skinny! It makes me sad. I’m nearly 40, and I don’t remember things being like this when I was growing up. I don’t remember wondering if I was ‘pretty’ or not. At least not until I was in HS. Thank you for what you are doing! <3
It just seems so medieval!!! I really can’t believe that nothing has changed for centuries – women will forever be kept down by this patriarchal society unless we take a stand – if we don’t buy the magazines, don’t buy the songs. Sometimes it does feel as though we are fighting a losing battle though!
Nothing depicts gender inequality better than the media. You see music videos with semi-naked female dancers or even lead singers because this way the video will be more engaging and people will buy the single or CD. Most movies have less female characters and most of the times they have roles that illustrate them powerless, needy and eager to get help from any man. Think of all the TV shows you watch and chances are most powerful TV personalities are strong, influential men while women are around to show some cleavage or because they look good on screen.
Media has a super powerful role into how genders are represented and for things to actually change we need a “revolution” in terms of how roles are distributed and how much “flesh” we see.
Never noticed it this way, but when I read this, I realized that it has been true all this time!
It’s there, even in the morning informative shows, men are always in a suit, while women wear a dress which MUST show a bit of extra flesh: cleavage, legs, back etc.. And even in trashy shows, men still wear their suits, when women get more and more naked!
This is so accurate. I didn’t notice this type of inequality (women constantly being naked or half naked as opposed to fully clothed men) until my girlfriend pointed it out and now I’m seeing it everywhere.
Hi Gene, that’s exatly how it works…once you reach a state of awareness there is not coming back. That’s why it’s so important to bring this kind of knowledge to young girls. They will actually start to see the world around them from a different perspective and become much more resilient 😉
It is so true Gene! Try watching half an hour of music videos now from different music channels. At the very least, every minute one of the channels will feature a half clad woman.
I think there will always be inequality no matter what we do or how we respond to social norms. I don’t think that it is meant to be that way, it has just been that way for so long that it’s hard to make a change overnight.
Hoping something this important can change overnight is futile.. but if enough people care over a long period and make an effort, history shows that a difference can be made..
Women today is very different from women long time ago. They used to stay at home and tend to be powerless. Now, we are more aware with our full potential and were doing everything to excel in areas that we are good at. I’m sad that despite of this women evolution, there are still women from other cultures who are still lingering in the past and unaware how valuable they are and they deserve education, respect and love. I hope time will come that the discrimination between genders will disappear and we realize that both genders can benefit for the success of one another.
True.. it is on the “up” but with that trend we branch into other problems.. One of the main ones now is marketing and large companies deciding how we see things….
You know, I’ve never really thought about this before. We do indeed live in a culture where women are so often portrayed almost-nude, but never the men. Think about the being on the beach even: it’s perfectly acceptable for men to take off their shirts and have a good time. Well, if a women does this, it’s a completely different story (probably ending with an arrest or a ticket at the very least). Why is that?
This evening I was sent a link to a Brazilian rap artist that I normally listen to on the radio exclusively. Typically his music is upbeat, catchy, and relatively tame in content. He speaks of his sister and mother in almost every song, alluding to his upbringing by his grandmother and if it wasn’t for them he would have amounted to nothing. Today he released a video on YouTube to his latest club hit and the contrast between video and lyrics was baffling. Bikini clad women in thongs and heels dancing about suggestively as he sat idly in a soccer jersey on a yacht was the theme (though his song was on keeping children out of trouble and off the street).
Comments from YouTubers who were unaware of the songs lyrics seemed to be more interested in the voluptuous women and thus rose his stock on YouTube significantly. There were an occasional dissenter but majority of the comments were from men and they shared a common love of booty shaking and expressed it quite openly. Some even went as far as soliciting female commenters for sexual favors.
And I’ve noticed that most of the women I see half naked are not plus sized. So, it gives girls and idea that they have to be naked and super skinny! It makes me sad. I’m nearly 40, and I don’t remember things being like this when I was growing up. I don’t remember wondering if I was ‘pretty’ or not. At least not until I was in HS. Thank you for what you are doing! <3
It just seems so medieval!!! I really can’t believe that nothing has changed for centuries – women will forever be kept down by this patriarchal society unless we take a stand – if we don’t buy the magazines, don’t buy the songs. Sometimes it does feel as though we are fighting a losing battle though!
Nothing depicts gender inequality better than the media. You see music videos with semi-naked female dancers or even lead singers because this way the video will be more engaging and people will buy the single or CD. Most movies have less female characters and most of the times they have roles that illustrate them powerless, needy and eager to get help from any man. Think of all the TV shows you watch and chances are most powerful TV personalities are strong, influential men while women are around to show some cleavage or because they look good on screen.
Media has a super powerful role into how genders are represented and for things to actually change we need a “revolution” in terms of how roles are distributed and how much “flesh” we see.
Never noticed it this way, but when I read this, I realized that it has been true all this time!
It’s there, even in the morning informative shows, men are always in a suit, while women wear a dress which MUST show a bit of extra flesh: cleavage, legs, back etc.. And even in trashy shows, men still wear their suits, when women get more and more naked!