Written by Norah (Year 7)
Traditionally, social norms have dictated certain gender roles for men and women. Men have generally been regarded as strong, superior, dominant and independent, whereas women are often depicted as weak, inferior, sensitive and dependent. Women have been subjugated to different rights, titles, duties, and restrictions compared to their male counterparts, leading to a long history of objectification and sexism towards women.
Objectification is the viewing and/or treating a person as an object, devoid of thought or feeling. Sexism, on the other hand, is the prejudice and discrimination based on sex or gender, not biological inferiority. Objectification and sexism have always been targeted at women and reduces them to objects of sexual pleasure and gratification, and they are the culprits of social barriers to women’s and girls’ success in various arenas.
The beginning of sexism and the objectification of women are heavily related to religious beliefs. It can date back all the way to the founding of Ancient Greek in 1200 BC when the Greek Mythology marked a woman as a secondary creature that came after man, or more specifically, in the form of Pandora, a bringer of unhappiness and vices. Whilst it should be acknowledged that some areas of Greece had active matriarchies, there are lots of examples where women were subservient to men. The Olympic, which was an important religious festival in Ancient Greek, only allowed men to participate. Women were not even permitted to watch the events. A few hundred years later, women in ancient Rome were shown little respect. Although the Roman mythological stories often illustrated both strong and weak women succeeding in greatness, they would often show how easily women could fall at a man’s hand, showing them to be no match for their skill and ability. This was probably one reason why only men were allowed to fight in gladiator fights. Even the Christian Bible written around the same time states that ‘Eve was created from Adam’s rib, and having eaten the forbidden fruit, was responsible for man’s expulsion from paradise’.
The role of women has historically been seen as to bear children and prepare food, to do household chores and tending livestock etc. The pattern continued until towards the end of WWI when some British women were allowed to vote after the Representation of the People Act 1918. About two years later, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution granted all American women the right to vote, a right known as women’s suffrage. The social status of women saw further improvement after WW2 when they were allowed to serve in the military in a number of official capacities after President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948. Previously, women serving in the military could only enlist as volunteers in clerical positions or work as nurses.
Despite these, sexism and the objectification of women continue in modern days, in part due to influence from sexist male writers whose work focuses on gender shaming women. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a well-known classic published in 1951 that portrays many areas of the way society perceives women. The women in the novel were ‘dumb’ and were put on unrealistic pedestals of innocence and virtue.
Unfortunately, still today, women generally don’t have the opportunity to be the “hero” or the “strong one”, which is why raising awareness of this topic is paramount.