There is a saying which expresses the idea that both
male and female genders are equally important for the success of our society: “The
human race is like a bird with two wings, and if one wing is broken, no one can
fly”. Last year, the famous actress Emma Watson launched her campaign #HeForShe
with which she reminded us of the pending issues between genders and discussed
possible solutions to the problems women are facing. The campaign is about
gender equality and in order for it to work, both sexes must get involved with
men standing up for women. Emma Watson has
addressed issues with education, the work place, and the payment gap between
men and women. What we don’t realize is that a lot of the potential in women is
lost because they are not as encouraged as men are. However, another aspect of the problem between genders that Emma
has talked about it that people don’t realize how much pressure is put on men’s
masculinity. She shares her genuine concern that men can’t express themselves
and that expressing ourselves is basically what makes us human.
In her work Justice,
Gender, and the Family the political theorist Susan Okin addresses the issue that gender is the main factor used by people
when determining someone’s role in society. This, in turn, explains why women are
being ostracized from many fields that are regarded as male’s work. The
questions that we should ask ourselves is why do we continue to base the
construction of our society on gender and why are women still excluded to such
a large extend from politics compared to men? In this flow of thoughts, why is
it believed that if men express their feelings, they will be regarded as
feminine? How do you think can we solve these pending issues between the two
genders? According to Emma Watson, we can begin to ameliorate the situation
simply by changing our definition of the term feminism – feminism is the idea
that women are equal to men and the movement should not be connected with man
hatred. The next steps would involve men standing up for women but also women
standing up for themselves.
The most appealing part in Emma Watson's speech is that encouraging man to stand up not only for woman but themselves. Gender inequality doesn't only constrain woman but also largely man. It goes the both way. As you mention, the family concept from Okin's article immensely affect both woman and man's work and life. On one hand, woman is expelled in many fields, on the other hand, man bears double burden in such fields. I agree that it is essential to modify how people define "feminine" and "masculine". When it is general and fair for man to be "sentimental, caring, communicative",it fairly do good to woman.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that there is especially a burden on man to be "masculine" which can lead to detrimental effects for both men and women. This aspect of livelihood not only leads to unnecessary hardships for all genders because of societal pressures towards behavior and competition, but also to deplete from progressive change in the form of the family's hierarchy and culture.
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