The Problem

 THE PROBLEM

The problem with our society is that it teaches women from a very young age that their bodies belong to men. Society teaches them that they should look perfect in order to impress men, and forget about their own desires. This leads to horrible things like sexual assault and rape. Not only does this lead to those things happening, but it also makes society not take women affected by them seriously and tell them that the rapist or assaulter wasn't doing anything wrong, and that it’s their fault for wearing revealing clothes, drinking too much, going somewhere where they were likely to be raped, etc. It presents rapists and sexual assaulters as the real victims, and even if the victim navigates the court system and wins the case, then their rapist or sexual assaulter will probably be given a very light sentence. 

There are other, more mild things that result from this. Ask most women and they will tell you that men comment on their appearance or catcall them all the time. This, while not as severe as rape or sexual assault, are still horrible things that need to stop. While society teaches women to submit to men, it also teaches men that women are objects, not people, and that they can just do whatever they want to them.

HOW I AM ALREADY FEELING THE PRESSURE OF BEING PART OF THE PROBLEM

As a young boy in the digital age, I can say that the rest of us and I are already being bombarded with Internet and IRL content that makes us think it’s okay or cool to be part of the problem. From misogynistic memes and jokes to edited or animated women that set unrealistically high beauty standards to gender stereotypes, which are spread both online and IRL, the Internet has definitely played a key role in this. In real life is no better, as the Internet plays such a big role in it that it is in my experience largely just talking about the Internet. 

One of the ways that this affects me personally is that in preschool, my favorite color was pink. But when I got older, and got feedback from other boys, I have become ashamed of it, and have not even been able to mention it. Another way that affects quite a few people is the stereotype of different genders wearing different clothes. Ask most boys and they will tell you that they would be very embarrassed if they wore a dress in public.

HOW TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION

Some ways that you can be part of the solution and not the problem are most of all, thinking of women as equal people, respecting their boundaries and making sure they consent to whatever you are doing, and rejecting harmful stereotypes. Thinking of women as equals is very important, as many many women’s opinions and ideas have been shut down or have had the credit taken by a man because men think of them as inferior. Consent is also important because a woman’s body is her own and no one else’s, and many many women have been catcalled, sexually harassed or assaulted, or raped because a man violated her boundaries and did not seek consent. Another important part of this is rejecting stereotypes, such as that women are dumb, weak, or need a man. These are not true, women are exactly the same in those departments as men.