Why is that we still label women as selfish if they are willing to work on their careers? Why do people label determination as selfish just because of gender? Where do these labels come from? How did we get these labels in the first place?
The idea of a woman working used to be considered pretty unhealthy at first. The Yellow Wallpaper’s author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was told not to write by her doctor, as he thought it made her go crazy. Gilman tried not to write, but eventually realized that not writing made her feel even worse, and so she decided to go against her doctor’s recommendations. Had she not gone against her doctor, she probably never would have gotten better.
Television has also shown us how women deal with this issue. For example, in Grey’s Anatomy, when Cristina accidentally became pregnant, she decided to abort the baby in order to focus on her career. But Meredith decided to have children.
When rumors of Jennifer Aniston being pregnant started circling, the actress released a statement mentioning that she was not pregnant and explaining that not everyone’s happy ending is becoming a mother.
These labels also exist in our politics. During the election cycle, whenever Donald Trump would intently listen (which was a rare occurrence and still is), he was considered a good listener. But when Hillary Clinton tried to listen, she was labeled as “too soft.”
When Donald Trump made references to sexual assault on tape, many considered it “locker room talk.” What if Hillary Clinton had made similar comments? Would she not have been labeled as a “slut”? Plus, a lot of people found Clinton intimidating because she was “too career driven.”
Labels still exist, and if we don’t speak up, they will continue to exist. Ignoring or normalizing them is not OK. The day we stop labeling each other is the day we will be one step closer to becoming more open minded and accepting of one another!