Men & Women & Gender Oppression: - Essay Example

Men & Women and Gender Oppression Naomi Wolf is a renowned and journalist who is famous for her post feminism book, The Beauty Myth. In this book, Naomi criticizes the way women are psychologically and physically abused based on the cultural myth of beauty. The society has put a lot of pressure on women, providing unattainable expectations of how women should look and behave just by virtue of being women. This gender oppression has taken a huge toll on women whom struggle to achieve this ‘ideal beauty’ that the society imposes on them. Deborah Tannen in her book, You Just Don’t Understand, agrees with Naomi that women are abused and oppressed. Deborah explains that women were previously physically punished for talking too much in the pre colonial America. Margaret Mead, another writer, discusses the role of the society in the development of the society’s behavior and personality in her work Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. Here, she points out that biology and inheritance have little to do with the personality of both men and women. It is, therefore, true to imply that the society’s perception of the female gender and the resultant oppression of the same are mainly controlled by the cultural conditions of the society, based on the works of the three writers. The beauty myth is discriminative as it tends to be centered only on women. It illustrates how men appear dominant over women and use their influence to suppress women. However, in the Mediterranean a long time ago, men also had a share of the beauty myth. Goddesses possessed many lovers, who adorned themselves in colorful clothes and made to look attractive. Many a times, an older woman, was displayed with many youthful and attractive men. This is in contrast to the image in today’s world where older men like hanging out with many young and beautiful women. Another example is the Nigerian Wodaabes where men participate in feminine acts like wearing make ups and beauty contests (Wolf 493). Despite the progress of the female gender in attaining equality with their male counterparts, majority of women are still trapped in this beauty myth, and daily strive to attain flawless beauty demanded by the society. Naomi uses the term myth to bring out the fact that this supposed beauty is only coined by the society for certain purposes. It is not a fact, but rather a speculation with no basis. It is a myth because, however, hard women try to meet this perfection, the society and the women themselves do not seem to be content with the results and always try out even the most dangerous options like use of chemicals. Women today compete against themselves in an attempt to appear more beautiful. This only drive women further apart leaving no room for any developmental unity. The society portrays the ideal beauty of a woman as being free of wrinkles, extremely skinny women on advertisements and plus size women in pornographic films. These expectations pressurize women to indulge in behaviors that pose a danger to their health like eating disorders and cosmetic and plastic surgeries. Women who are not content with their looks prefer to modify them through implants and surgeries like breast implants. This, they desperately prefer despite the numerous publications about the dangers of such procedures like exposure to substances like silicon that may be cancerous. The society also prefers younger women, as opposed to the older faces. In advertisements, majority of faces used are those of younger models. In cases where faces of older models are used, then they are modified or photo shopped to appear younger and flawless. Women also struggle to attain the correct body size, shape and weight so that they identify with most models on advertisements and televisions. They have proven that they can go to all lengths to gain be socially acceptable as beautiful women. This aspect mostly affects teenagers and middle aged women, who have developed low self esteem and eating disorders like bulimia. They starve themselves, skipping meals and taking fluids most part of the day, not to forget the expense incurred when waxing their bodies to achieve perfection. This takes a toll on their bodies, and they develop habits like forcefully throwing up to get the extra food out. In this state, such women are psychologically disturbed, and they tend to hate themselves. If unchecked, this myth will slowly undermine the progress that women have so rightfully made in the contemporary world in an attempt to attain equality with the male. This time, changes in how women and the society at large views feminism are necessary to curb this myth that is deeply rooted in the society. The societies’ expectation of beauty, which Naomi refers to as unattainable, is truly that, unattainable. (Wolf 370). This has forced many women to indulge in dangerous acts just so they evade the criticism of the society that will render them laughing stocks in the community. Technology and mass media have only made this controversial topic worse than it was before. Its effect is evident in the advertisements and entertainment sector, all which have been westernized. When women seek for such perfection as dictated by the society, they become anorexic or bulimic. These are eating disorders that are detrimental to ones health and self esteem if not checked. These disorders can lead to depression, and such women tend to be suicidal. If one escapes that, then the lack of or inadequate food leaves the body starving. What is the point of being referred to as ‘beautiful’ at the expense of good health? Mead believes that the difference between the male and female gender is influenced more by the cultural conditions than by biological aspects. This, she illustrates using three different communities that show different behaviors depending on the culture of the society they inhabit. The Arapesh, for instance, shows feminine and maternal characteristics in both male and female gender while the Mundugumor community possesses ruthless and aggressive behavior with less maternal and feminine behaviors (Mead 221). This proves that personality is not solely biological. Contrasting the current belief that women’s role is taking care of children while men become acquire a tough personality of aggressiveness for their role in taking care of the family, Mead’s work suggest that these roles are merely conditioned by culture. Men can also exhibit compassionate ‘feminine’ character, just like the men in Arapesh community did. Thus, Mead concludes that traits such as temperament are not sex linked as many people previously perceived. The implication of this is that the ills in the society including oppression against women are facilitated by the cultural practices of a community. It means that such oppression and negative ideologies in the society can be prevented if the society changed the way it behaves. The society has often preferred male gender to the female gender. Studies have shown that women tend to talk more than men when in private places like their homes or with those close to them. This is referred to as rapport talk, according to Tannen, and is adopted by women because their feminine nature prefers ‘establishing connections and negotiating relationships’ (Tannen 111). She, however, portrays men as public speakers who normally talk less compared to women when at home or close to their families. Report talk is the term she gives this male tendency. This further shows the male superiority against women as they believe they are more knowledgeable and prefer public speaking. In my opinion, the society has a role to play in this issue since it has always stigmatized women as the lesser creature in favor of the male gender. This has seen women lose confidence and trust in themselves; hence they have conformed to and accepted the fact that they cannot voice their opinion in public. Women’s role is to keep quiet and never to contradict their men especially in public. Wolf, Tannen and Mead are all influential women who have, in various ways, contributed to the success of women liberation in the world. They hold different careers ranging from writing, journalism, anthropology, lecturing and motherhood, just to mention a few. From the work produced by the three women, it is clear that there is still much to be done to remove this stigmatization and oppression against women. A total behavior change is required if this is to be achieved because as pointed earlier these traits are culturally conditioned. It is, however, necessary to note and appreciate the far women have come, with the help of feminists and women movements, to reduce this gender oppression and remain competitive in this male dominated world. It is through the efforts of such women that women today can freely operate works that were previously believed to be males’ roles, and still enjoy being performing their feminine duties in the society. Works Cited Mead, Margaret. Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. New York: William Morrow Publishers, 1963. Print. Tannen, Deborah. You just don’t understand: Women and Men in Conversation. Simon and Schuster Publishers, 1991. Print. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. William Morrow and Company, 1991. Print. Read More