Things that make you go Hmmm.
Why is that we know the statistics involved with highway fatalities, the number of veterans who lose their lives in service, the number of lives lost to cancer, but we have to research and dig up the deaths of women caused by domestic violence? We might learn about them through two-minute segments on the six-o-clock news or on a talk show, if someone who survived them keeps their loss alive, but most of us dismiss this kind of news as something that is sad and tragic, not as something far more heinous like a war on women. Maybe we think these women just made bad choices or that these numbers are too few to see the concern for action. Or maybe, we think that if we just ignore women being killed by their husbands, boyfriends, fathers and others, often times after years of abuse, that the causes behind domestic violence will cycle out eventually. It is said that ostriches stick their heads in the sand when frightened. However, logical, thinking human beings are supposed to address the social problems that threaten the welfare of humanity and find ways to resolve them, not tuck them away in five line tidbits of newsprint or offered as fodder for headlines. Women make up over half of the world’s population, so why is it then that women are underrepresented in every country in the world? Underrepresentation equals a loss of voice, a loss of rights and inevitably, a loss of life for the few who become buried statistics. So what can we do? How can we fight this war on women so few are willing to acknowledge exists? Speak up and speak out. Run for office, lobby for better laws and refuse to let the deaths of these women and those who will follow be uncounted.
Shall we not include the number of girls killed through abortion. Indeed, that number would make each of these pail in comparison? How is it possible that people who care so much about equality and rights, would support the denial of those very same rights to unborn children! Perhaps there should be a discussion about the destruction of morality and, by extension, the destruction of the family–the foundation upon which society stands.
The misrepresentation of women around the world is an extremely common situation and it is almost as if issues about women are “swept under the rug” in a sense. In our textbook, Lee (2011) states that, “stories about women are often considered less newsworthy or are relegated to special features about family, look, or romance” (p. 67). The reason society has a misrepresentation of women and their abuse, deaths, and crucial issues are mainly because of the media. The media keeps real conflicts about women out of the public eye and replaces them with superficial ideas of how women live and act in our world. In the film Missrepresentation, it shows the viewers how much the media skews the outlook of women. You see tall, skinny women in provocative clothing plastered all over magazines in grocery stores or women being represented as housewives that do everything a man asks of them. The average woman and her daily life relates to neither of these images portrayed to the public on a daily basis. In a reading on women’s health last week, I came across the section on women during war times and environmental disasters. I found out that during both these hard times, women are more likely to be raped, exploited, and have to use sex as a survival mechanism. War and tsunamis are always are always highlighted on the news for months when they occur. Unfortunately, the one thing the do not highlight is its affects on women because it is “less newsworthy” and does not fit the typical stereotype of how women should be portrayed in society. If we continue to hide the truth of what is really going on in the world by way of the media, then women’s health will continue to be in jeopardy all around the world.
Lee, Janet. & Shaw, Susan. (2011). Women Worldwide: Transnational feminist perspectives on women. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Many onlookers to a woman in an abusive relationship seem to ask, ‘why does she not just leave, why doesn’t she get out?” Well it is time that we stop asking what the problem is with the woman, and focus on the problem with the perpetrator of her abuse. I have had a personal experience on this issue; a family member has been affected by domestic violence and physical abuse by their husband. My family member is not alone, according to the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, “Domestic violence is the most ubiquitous constant in women’s lives around the world. There is virtually no place where it is not a significant problem, and women of no race, class, or age are exempt from its reach (Seager, 28)”. It is clear that the biggest issue of our time is not war, not hunger, not political strife, but domestic violence against women throughout the world. This crime is intolerable and is constantly overlooked in media of all kinds; as if women are disposable and invisible in society. Seager states that “Violence against women is often ignored or even condoned by the state on the grounds that it is a “private” matter (28)”. Simple arguments are a private matter, murder and abuse is illegal and requires immediate intervention and help. Why do we consider these deaths just a mistake on the women’s part? Why do we sweep these murders under the table and just say, ‘well that’s sad’? Consider the fact that of all women murdered between 1976-2005, 42% were killed by an intimate or other family member; 74% of all murders of women from domestic violence occur after the woman has left the relationship, filed for divorce or sought a restraining order from her partner (30)”.
Awareness of these astonishing statistics needs to be promoted throughout the US; female empowerment groups need to rise up and reach out while the laws need to become stricter in the prosecutions and punishment of abuse offenders. Just as drug and alcohol awareness, and sexual education are taught in schools, young generations need to be educated on how to prevent being in an abusive relationship and how to get out before the violence escalates (at the first sign), and what to do when you know someone is in a violent or abusive relationship. This crime is one that has been disregarded for too long, and major intervention is needed in today’s society to transform this cruel injustice.
Seager, Joni. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. 4. New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print.
Women are ill represented in the media, the reasoning for this can be touched upon in the book, Women Worldwide, by Susan Shaw and Janet Lee. They explain, “the reason for this representation are twofold: (1) media are mostly owned and controlled by individuals who show bias about or lack of appreciation for women, or outright misogyny (woman hating); and (2) media largely treat women as the ‘other’ (for example, in the word ‘mankind’ maleness gets to stand in for humanness, but femaleness only ever represents itself, never humans generally) (Lee, Shaw pg. 67).” Men dominate the social context in which women and minorities live. A news story about female abuse is portrayed as the woman’s fault because in a man’s eye (which the media is a representation of) men cannot do any wrong; the woman must have had the beating coming to her. To change this negativity or misogyny towards women I agree with Jamie’s final thought in her post, The War on Women, on women becoming active in society such as running for offices and positions of authority so women’s points of view will be heard. This will be the only way that the socially constructed mainstream idea of women being a ‘lower being’ can be changed, through women fighting for our own wellbeing.
Lee, Jane and Susan M. Shaw. 2011. Women Worldwide: Transnational Feminist Perspectives
on Women. McGraw Hill. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
It is true that women are often underrepresented in the news media and stories of domestic violence go uncovered. There are so many negative stereotypes associated with women who are victims of abuse and not enough focus on the abusers themselves. According to the Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, over 31% of women in the United States suffer from some sort of domestic violence & yet it is rarely the topic of any sort of critical discussions. I think we as a society need to acknowledge the fact that is a serious problem affecting women and families and attempt to make steps to eradicate this problem. An aspect of the domestic violence issue that I find to be troubling is how domestic violence seems to be somewhat romanticized in our culture lately. In fact I was just having a conversation recently with a young woman who said that even though her boyfriend is physical with her, it is more romantic and exciting than any other relationship she’s ever had. Romance centered around domestic violence is also present in our media and in celebrity relationships. Take for example the situation regarding Chris Brown & Rihanna. While their relationship should remain private it is important to note that they are two people living in the public eye and their actions have an effect on people. I’m not commenting on their private lives, but rather the fact that there have been numerous supporters coming out claiming that their violent relationship is romantic. There is even a Tumblr site dedicated to the revival of their relationship. This type of rationale causes so many problems when women are confusing violence with emotions and men are made to believe that this type of behavior is acceptable.
Seager, Joni, and Joni Seager. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World: Completely Revised and Updated. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.
http://chrianna.tumblr.com/
In war there are no real winners
Throughout history, gender differences have been highlighted in every society around the world. In each culture, society is structured and stratified according to perceived ideals of masculinity and femininity. Patriarchy is the cultural norm for most peoples around the world and evolutionary science has attempted to explain some of these differences in terms of evolution and genetic predisposition. In her article on caveman masculinity Martha McCaughey laments, “Everywhere we look we can find applications of an increasingly fashionable exercise – the invocation of evolutionary theory to explain human male behaviors, particularly deplorable behaviors such as sexual harassment, rape, and aggression more generally.” In the article McCaughey points to the use of evolutionary explanations that are used to absolve men of their behavior and even convince them that there is nothing they can do about it.
This focus on evolution and its influence on masculinity has been dubbed “caveman masculinity” and conjures an image of a sloping brow, hairy, pelt wearing, none too bright male. The image popularized by caveman masculinity is in turn celebrated as normal because it is a strong reflection of the dominant patriarchal themes. In terms of the dominating cultural ideal, one method of maintaining power is to make the influence invisible. Rather than talk about the problems with this line of thinking or addressing it as not being accurately reflective of men in general, the power structure helps to make this behavior subversive. This dynamic has been linked to reinforcing ideals of hegemonic masculinity. I think this could be an influence on the problems you speak of with not giving the exposure to violence and men that they deserve.
Jackson Katz notes in his film Tough Guise that even when media reports on the violence of men it is reported as “a woman was the victim” rather than “a male perpetrated violence”, and it comes across in such a way as that it takes the emphasis off of men. Also noteworthy in the film however was that despite men committing more violent acts, men were at a much higher percentage as victims of other men, further lending support to the idea of caveman masculinity and hegemonic masculinity ideals of having power over other men through violence and emasculating them. In the film, young men and boys have been given clear ideas about what it means to be a man in today’s world as portrayed by media and culture. Young men of color especially are noted as having even fewer positive male role models as they are often portrayed as criminals and gang members.
When men are given stereotyped images of masculinity and violence is used to establish power and dominance over other men and women, then men as well as women suffer. Women in the violence they endure and men in the confined space of a very limiting ideal that boxes in their emotional and pro-social development. It’s a viscous and self-perpetuating cycle where the gendered messages and ideals are passed from generation to generation. Only a concerted effort by both men and women working together in my opinion can combat this serious social problem.
Jhally, Sut, Susan Ericsson, Sanjay Talreja, Jackson Katz, and Jeremy Earp. Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 1999.
McCaughey, Martha. “Caveman Masculinity: Finding Manhood in Evolutionary Science.” 2010. Adobe PDF file.
Being an individual who has witnessed domestic violence first hand, I would absolutely agree that women are misrepresented in the world, media, government, etc.
Long story short, I woke up one night to the sound of a close friend being beaten by her boyfriend. I immediately ran out into the living room where they were, and pulled him from her. There was blood coming from her lips, strangle marks on her throat, her cheeks were bruised and swollen, a mirror had been shattered and a couch was flipped over.. it was terrifying. The fact that I was there to witness what he was doing had no effect on him. He had snapped her phone in half when she tried to call the police, and tried to do the same to mine. He threw my phone across the room in attempt to keep me from calling the police, when I ran to get it, he lunged for her, pinned her to the ground, and began to choke her. I called the police as I was running back to her and he fled. We were very fortunate to have escaped this nightmare. Never have I seen such a terrible and evil look in someones eye as his was that night. When the police arrived, they were very supportive and gentle with my friend and I. We soon heard from a lawyer and began to take steps to make sure he would never do what he did again, to anyone. After a lengthy process, he was given nothing but a slap on the wrist, and a parole officer. It didn’t matter that I was there to witness what happened, it didn’t matter that they had photo evidence of the damage he had done, it didn’t matter that he had fled the scene, that was all he got.
I am, and forever will be disgusted by the lack of protection our government is giving women. Because not everyone is as lucky as my friend and I.
I agree that the only way women can make a difference for themselves is to act, as you said, to “speak up and speak out.” Women are underrepresented in so many ways; government, the workforce, positions of power, and more. These underrepresentations should be changed in order to change the more difficult issues, including health and wellness.
“Most medical research has focused on men,” which skews our perception on what a healthy body is in general (285). Since not all people fit the description of middle-aged, white males, the research can’t apply to everyone. Women were discluded from research for particular drugs because their hormones might play as extra variables, and that keeping women out of the research would make the data more accurate and “protect them.” The funny thing is, as educated scientists, wouldn’t these researchers want to test all variables included in the targeted consumer of the drug? If the drug is only tested on men, then it should be unsafe to give to women, unless tested for them as well. The androcentrism that has affected drug studies like this could be partly from the representation in the health care system, where the powerful positions are filled with mostly men, putting the medical decisions in the hands of men.
When addressing the difficulties that the disabled face in the able-bodied world, the notion that the disabled should be the ones designing facilities was presented as the most sensible course of action. The same should go for healthcare for women. If women’s bodies need different care, then they should be the ones designing the health care system for women. If women could hold higher seats of power, putting together a more beneficial system for themselves would be much easier.
Women have the potential to change their representation in health and wellness just as they had worked for the right to vote. The statistics for women’s underrepresentation won’t change if women don’t attempt to increase them on their own. If women fight for powerful positions in society, then they might be more likely to have an influence on reform. In finding these powerful positions, it isn’t just that women are less likely to earn particular jobs than men (mostly due to androcentrism), but their underrepresentation is partially due to less women applying to gain these jobs in the first place. To speak up and speak out will increase women’s representation in everything else in society, including domestic violence and women’s health, if they increase their representation in government and other powerful positions.
Work cited
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2012. Print.