Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Subtle sexism
Watching this was the first time in my life I've ever truly laughed and cried at the same time.

Whether any of these things could be turned around and said to a man, or not, isn't the point. It's the constant commentary, the dichotomy, the conflicting messages, the importance we place on a woman's appearance and perceived behavior.
We should challenge the things that are expected of each gender in society, but I can't speak from a male experience. I haven't lived my life as one; I've lived my life as a female and I know my experiences.  And I'm tired of being blamed for other people's behavior (note: this is extends to more than just sexism, I'm also dealing with emotional manipulation issues).

I'm tired of having lived my life being silenced! I grew up in a "closed" culture (maybe there's another word for this, I don't know) where all my family and friends had basically the same mind set because 99% of us belonged to the same rule-heavy religion. In this culture, I didn't have any examples of strong, independent, 'fierce' women. This is not to say that the adult females in my life were weak, but I never knew what a you-will-respect-me-and-what-I-say, I-have-boundaries-and-I'm-allowed-to-keep-them woman looked (or acted) like until a few years ago. And very few girls in American society are taught how to be that woman. We compromise our boundaries ALL THE TIME. I don't want to teach my daughter how to do that. So when she loudly and firmly told her friend who was annoying her to "Leave Me Alone RIGHT NOW", I had to check my conditioned response of scolding her to "be nice" and tell her "good for you" instead.

Sure, there are "nicer ways" to say just about anything, but if I have to mince my words to "be nice" instead of asserting whatever it is that I need, then the focus shifts from the actual message to whether I made somebody feel bad when I protected my boundary. (This is what "tone policing" is all about). I mean, can you imagine when (Country A) tried to invade (Country B) if they had been all "Well I don't want to hurt your feels, but I'd prefer if you didn't take my land and kill my people. Let's just play nice, okay?" Like, when has that ever worked? It's apparently human nature to constantly test boundaries (even toddlers do it) and try to find the weak spot - if you don't consistently and strongly define where the line is and what kind of behavior you expect, you eventually WILL be breached. 

A girl's "city walls" (if you will) are breached in minor ways on a *daily* basis as a lot of the comments in that video demonstrate. Although it is just as emotionally damaging to tell a boy to 'be a man', 'play with trucks not ponies', or "pick the boy colors" (heard a relative say this to their 4yo son), it seems to me that the consequence is that males are often silenced from talking about how they feel, or from expressing certain things they like. They are allowed -and indeed expected- to define their borders in other areas of their life. When girls are taught to be "pleasant" and "nice" we are taught that someone else's comfort comes before ours and we are not allowed to set the standards for ourselves. We are taught this when we are told to "smile!" (or even worse, "you're such a pretty girl, why don't you smile?!"), we are taught this when we're told "boys/nobody likes a girl who ____."  With all these little chips and holes, it becomes very difficult to keep the walls intact and defend against the real threat when it comes.

It doesn't matter what color my walls are, it doesn't matter what kind of stone they're made, it doesn't matter how many bricks have been patched and replaced. That is not what makes the invader attack. I am not responsible for the intruder's behavior, I am responsible for mine. I am allowed to defend my boundaries and I wish to help defend the walls of my neighboring cities who may or may not have the resources to protect themselves. Together we must push back and try to eradicate this threat forever. 

P.S. Nowhere in here have I said that anything is perpetrated by males alone, or is "the man's fault" - the invasion I speak of is the patriarchal society that teaches males and females alike, whether overtly or subtly, that women are soft-spoken and pretty / men are bold and ambitious; that a woman's greatest purpose is to obtain 'the right man' and a man's greatest achievement is to obtain a 'hot chick/beautiful wife', and also teaches that comments on a person's looks/body/clothes/health are completely appropriate (newsflash: they're not).