Women have always been looked at as wives, homemakers, dominant caretakers, and an object for male desires. This portrayal of women is discriminatory and inaccurate of womanhood.

Women suffer not just from obnoxious stereotypes but misrepresentation in the media as being “too this” or “too that”, or that you have to be “this way” or “that way”. Fit into society and social norms. Have a kid so your parents can have grandchildren. You have to walk and talk a certain way. Yes, times have changed since then, but they have not changed enough.

Women are still defending themselves from men. Women have been stalked, emotionally and physically abused, impregnated against their will, killed for not treating men “like they have to”, and so much more is on the list. The ridiculous matter of it all is that men still think they have the power to take control and destroy till women are nothing.

Concerning the subject, Labour by Paris Paloma is a song that empowers women and states what women have to deal with, in fear that it will pass down to their future daughters. Men have reacted to this song and from what has been seen they are shocked by how much women and girls have to deal with on the daily.

Excerpt:

“The calloused skin on my hands is cracking

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing?

And the silence haunts our bed chamber

You make me do too much labor

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph then a virgin, nurse then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7, baby machine

So he can live out his picket fence dreams

It’s not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labor”

Actress, Film Director, and Screenwriter Greta Gerwig encapsulates how women are mistreated and recognized for nothing but their bodies and what they can do to make men feel content. Her most recent movie which came out in 2023, Barbie, is not just a silly movie about a Barbie and her adventures, it is about how women are objectified and everything they do for men is frowned upon. This movie is so much more than what it seems.

Most men who commented on this movie saying it has no meaning are the problem—the very reason women are afraid to be more than just what they are told to be, and not even just scared, women are enraged that men will never see through their selfish intents. 

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Timeline Of How Women Are Treated From 1800s-Present:

For centuries before today, women have been mistreated and continue to face gender discrimination. Dating back to the 1800s when records of women’s lives were recorded.

In gratitude to the women’s rights movements, women began to get some recognition.

Women were not just prohibited from voting, which is often paid most attention to. Money that was given to a married female was frequently given to the husbands due to their societal role of being the provider. In schools most history lessons revolve around the achievements of what are considered male heroes, the women mentioned had put up a fight to make themselves seen by the public eye—unfortunately, it is still happening today.

Men had high expectations for not only their wives but other women around them as well. How a woman presented herself image-wise was viewed as a valuable quality. However it did not stop with just an image, it was character traits as well. It was expected that gentle and caring qualities would be presented. As a result of women’s lack of power, there is not much record of daily life due to it being described as dull and repetitive.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century progress started, and women’s voting rights were being fought for. The nineteenth amendment was passed on August 18, 1920. This life-changing amendment states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Despite being granted voting rights this was not going to keep the women quiet. They quickly began brainstorming their plan of action to gain more economic rights. Not long after they were granted the right to own property, earn a living, and run a business. Since this big societal change, issues have shifted to wage equality, education access, reproductive rights, and business opportunities.

Yet today women in the twenty-first century are still facing pay differences. Women have received the right to work but are still being viewed as the weaker link in an industry with both men and women. In any work field that is considered “male-dominated,” women are paid a significant amount less than their male co-workers. As a consequence of this continuous inequality, women continue to fight for equality in society.

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Women’s Rights Movements:

Women’s Rights Movements are not something new to society. Dating back to the 1800s, women have been fighting for rights not only in their hometowns but all over the world. Speaking out individually had no effect so they joined forces to make themselves not only heard but understood.

The first-ever convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York from July 19-20, 1848. Including the brave organizers, there were 300 attendees. From July forward, women continued to arrange different events to construct a group of women’s rights enthusiasts.

By the time the civil war began a variety of women had put together different movements. The tension between the North and South resulted in convention and rioting arrangements being placed on pause. Soon after the war ended in 1865 women expeditiously began to join forces to regain attention towards equal rights. Smaller gatherings were planned in Ohio and Massachusetts leading to the agreement of an annual women’s rights convention.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony established the National Woman Suffrage Association to focus on enfranchising white women. They did several marches throughout the years to gain voting rights, which were given in 1917 to the state of New York. Just three years later women’s right to vote was granted nationwide by the 19th amendment.

Unfortunately, it did not stop after the 19th Amendment. The list of amendments continues to grow due to a biased society. Women continue to fight for not only equal opportunities but respect in their homes and workplaces. Even though the right to work has been permitted it is still expected for a female to begin and upkeep a family. Household chores are still placed in view for the women to complete, alongside taking care of any children or family members.

Recently groups of women have formed again to gain equal pay in workplaces. Sadly it does not stop at gender discrimination. In 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was passed so that they could seek service in times of violent actions being used on them. Though this act was passed, violence is still used daily on women.

Due to the disregard of the acts women continue to arrange movements to fight for their rights.

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What Is Feminism?

Feminism can be defined as a social movement that is focused on social, political, and economic rights. This term came to life when women began to fight for their rights many years ago. It mostly speaks of negative concepts such as what women did not have the right to do before movements were created.

There have been many different views on feminism but they all had one thing in common, they wanted women to have equal rights. One group is called mainstream or liberal feminists. They focus on the integration of social and political structures and allowing women to work in male-dominated professions. This group is very similar to the radical feminists who viewed women’s low rank in society as a result of the male-dominated structure.

A few more groups are eco-feminism, cultural feminism, and Marxist-social feminism. Though there are individual groups there is also global feminism. This focuses on topics such as freedom from oppression and discrimination, access to economic, educational, and healthcare resources, and having control over their own lives.

It has been said that there have been four waves of feminism. The fourth began in the late 2000s causing feminism beliefs to spread to the internet world. With the help of the internet, feminist movements continue to spread around the world bringing attention to concerns of abuse and harassment towards women.

Feminism is a term that will continue to be used and will forever hold much meaning.

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Abortion is Healthcare and Why?

What is Abortion?

Abortion is a reproductive right to women that can remove the embryo or fetus.

Abortion usually occurs when a woman has a miscarriage and or can not afford to feed and health a child. Some people believe that abortion means killing a baby and should be charged with murder when scientifically it is not a baby, but an embryo.

An embryo is an unborn offspring that is in the process of developing. In the second to eighth week after fertilization, the term embryo correlates with the fetus.

As claimed by Human Rights Watch, “In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutionally protected right to access abortion, leaving the question of whether and how to regulate abortion to individual states.” This act goes against The Constitution and rights women have taken so long to fight for.

If the script was flipped and an act was put in place making guns illegal, men and society as a whole would throw a fit and the entire world would “collapse,” but when it comes to women dying because they can not receive basic healthcare, most of the world does not bat an eye. This is extremely discriminatory and immoral.

Recently on Jubilee, Charlie Kirk and 25 Liberal College students debated on many things, and they even talked about abortion. Charlie Kirk kept talking over the students, not giving them a chance to speak and saying how abortion is murder when no technically it is not. As mentioned before, an embryo and fetus are not a baby yet, it is in the development stage, therefore it are not a baby.

Charlie Kirk said confidently that in Latin ‘fetus’ means ‘little human being’ which is inaccurate. Fetus in Latin means “the bearing, bringing forth, or hatching a young”, it has nothing to do with humans but all sorts of life that can procreate and carry. Also, the closest term in Latin that means ‘little human being’ is homunculus meaning “little man”.

One of the college students remarked, “So if you had a daughter and she was 10 and she got raped and she was going to give birth and she…and she was going to live, would you want her to go through that…” Kirk responded, “That’s awfully graphic.”

Yes. That is the point that it is graphic, and it is a real scenario that does happen all the time, but the fact is men do not have to worry about that since they can not get pregnant.

Kirk: “Yes, the baby would be delivered.”

That is the most outrageous thing for someone to say if your daughter was carrying a baby at 10 years of age. She would have to suffer, and most likely die to save a baby that she was forced to carry. Kirk, alongside many other men, (and even women) thinks this way and is the very reason why many women are dead and are continuing to fight for reproductive rights constantly.

Lastly, abortion is healthcare because it saves lives by countering the many factors on why women and girls need abortions.

Factors: Contraceptive failure, barriers to contraceptive use and access, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, fetal anomalies, illness during pregnancy, and exposure to teratogenic medications.

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Long History of Being Objectified:

Objectified is a universal term. It is mostly known when men or women look at another person degrading the status of only being an object.

Women are constantly objectified by whatever they wear, and or say. A woman or girl could be wearing a swimsuit or sweatpants and be objectified by the male gaze. As the National Library of Medicine stated, “Objectification becomes especially harmful if women internalize these judgments and self-objectify, or consider themselves first as bodies over other personal characteristics. This can lead to negative consequences including heightened body shame and greater unwillingness to speak in social interactions.”

The way women are looked at has been going on forever, and has become so normalized for men and society that it “does not matter” or it’s “irrelevant” or it is “because the woman was too distracting”, no, no, and no. A woman’s body is hers and hers only and not for anyone else. Her body and mind DO matter, it is NOT irrelevant. It is NOT because of what they wear, it is simply because men feel obligated to see a woman as a piece of cake and an object because they “cannot control themselves.”

The tiring defeat women always feel when men catcall them or whisper when they can hear them. It is sickening how the world views women. That women will only be for men, only be housewives, mothers, servants, etc.

As mentioned in Little Women By Greta Gerwig, “Women have minds and souls as well as just hearts, and they’ve got ambition and talent as well as just beauty. And I’m sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.” The passion and drive women have is powerful and beautiful, yet it is unknown in their journey what they have done since it has been credited by men.

1951: Rosalind Franklin discovers the double helix

1868: Margaret Knight invented the paper bag machine

1900 Alice Guy was the first female film director and first female studio owner

1903: Elizabeth Maggie invented Monopoly

1930: Lise Meitner discovered nuclear fission

1900: Nettie M. Steven discovered that a man’s sperm determines the sex of a child

The list goes on and on and on.

It is insufferable being stuck in the shadow of men seeing as society has ruled that women are not equal.

An incredibly horrid fact, women are not even safe as statues, and or after death. It has been seen and known that three German statues of women had been visibly groped and the bronze paint on their chests is turning golden.

Irrelevant bystander: Oh it’s just a statue.

No. They were historical figures who once lived or fictional characters that hold incredible significance for empowering women. Fictional or not, she is still a woman who should be treated with respect and not as an item or gadget for men’s selfish pleasure. All women who have dealt with such slander deserve to rest and the biggest apologies of all.