This section explores the interaction between girls and society, and how society perceives women normally. It talks about topics such as sexual harassment, expectations of women, and sexism.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is an issue that is gaining more and more attention and I’m glad that it is. In recent news, many high powered people within American society have been accused of sexual harassment or sexual assault, and it’s bringing to light how big of an issue it is. Many women face sexual harassment and are even assaulted every day in America, include me. I wasn’t assaulted, but I was harassed. I was in the city with one of my friends and it was during the summer, it was warm enough to wear light clothing, but not dreadfully hot. We were walking by Bryant Park in NYC, when a group of guys started whistling at me and my friend and saying different things to us that definitely didn’t make me feel good. I’m not sure if my friend noticed, but I definitely did. After that happened, I felt a little down on myself and kept asking myself if I did anything to encourage it or something. After thinking for a while, I realized that in no way was it my fault. All we were doing was walking past and enjoying the warmth and trying to find a new destination. There are many people who I know who have been harassed or assaulted, so to the girls out there who may think they are alone, you’re not, I promise you. There was a really good movie that I watched called “The Hunting Ground” and it’s on Netflix and it’s about sexual harassment and assault in colleges in the USA. I have to say I was pretty shocked when I watched it learn about all those things, but it was definitely eye-opening. I’ll put more resources for sexual harassment and assault on the resources page.
Expectations of Women
High expectations of women is nothing new. People’s expectations of women can range from social to physical. For example, women are commonly expected to become mothers and they are also expected to have a certain look that is almost impossible to attain for some. Many people may still believe that “the woman's place is in the home,” but I certainly am not one of those people. I believe that a woman's place is wherever she wants to be. As people grow up in life, women and men are held to different expectations. Men are also expected to be the breadwinner for the family and be the head of the household, but sometimes it’s not always that way. Nowadays, people’s expectations of men and women are changing, and I’m glad that it is. Many women are single and have kids and are the main source of income for their household. There’s stay at home dads too. Expectations are sometimes good and sometimes bad, but mostly bad. I hold myself to high expectations all the time. I expect myself to do well in school and go to college, and that’s good for me because it motivates me to work hard and achieve my goals. But sometimes other people have expectations for you, and if they’re not the same as the ones you have for yourself, I would take them with a grain of salt. Sometimes people’s expectations of you are way too high for you to meet, which will leave you and the other person disappointed which is not good because it makes you feel sad. I know when I don’t meet my own expectations, I get really down on myself, but eventually I make a new goal and work towards that, but with other people, if I don’t do what they expect me to do, I find them disappointed and I become disappointed in myself even though I knew I couldn’t meet the goal that they set for me. You should be the one to hold you to your highest expectations, not other people. You know what’s best and you know what’s within reach better than other people do, even though they may say they do.
Sexism
Sexism (noun): prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex -google definitions
Sexism is something that many people experience everyday, including me. A couple of weeks ago during gym class we were playing this game called nitroball, I think, and a guy on my team was yelling “where’s my team, where’s my team” while my friends and I were all standing open waiting for him to pass us the ball, while he just kept passing it to other guys on our team. I even talked to one of my gym teachers today about it and she said that the guys do it all the time. One of my friends also experienced it while playing a coed sport. Many of the guys on her team wouldn’t pass her the disc even though she was wide open. Unfortunately I don’t think sexism is really going anywhere, although I hope it does because it ties into expectations. Some guys might expect girls to be bad to sports so they won’t pass or throw to them and it’s also vice versa too. Many girls could expect guys to be very athletic, but sometimes they’re not the best at sports or something like that. There are hundreds of examples like this out there, and you can all think of just one. Something that I think is a good thing to watch in relation to this is the movie “The Mask You Live In.” It’s a very good movie that’s about the expectations of guy in today’s society. I watched it on Netflix last year, but I’m sure there’s other ways to watch it too. There will be more resources on the resources page that you could look at that are about sexism.