Women Oppressing Women
Sexism is just about everywhere and it has put me in a very uncomfortable position, one in which I am forced to explain my motives, moods and morals. I find myself being angrier every day by very different things and people. Everything I see and encounter is sexist. Things like the media, advertisements, groups, classes, jobs and even unintentionally, my loved ones. There is however, something that angers me to the furthest possible extent: Women oppressing Women.
Now back in the day, when I was a young high school student I myself stood on the opposite side. I am ashamed of it, but I do not hide from the reality of it. Once you realize what it is, you can stop it. Women oppress women, almost as much as men oppress women. However, unintentional it may be. I regret it and many times I have apologized for it.
We were raised in a society that set beauty standards and gender roles for us. We are taught what it means to be a woman from very early on and it isn’t easy fighting an ideal, but we must. If we try to disassociate ourselves with these standards and roles, we can support each other and we can move forward. The last thing we need is to be oppressed by ourselves. Women all suffer different forms of oppression and all sorts of limitations, all based on different aspects of their lives, bodies, religions, ideals, and morals. Feminism is a fight for equality. It is no longer just a fight for women. It is a fight for the oppressed, whoever they may be against the oppressors, whoever they may be.
Forms of Sexism from Women against Women:
- When you talk badly about a woman for being different than you.
- When you bully a woman, both behind her back and to her face because she is different.
- When you are violent towards a woman, because she is a different kind of woman.
- When you try to restrain a woman from being the type of woman that she wants to be.
- When you compare yourself to other women and compare them to yourself.
- When you allow the media to portray women as objects.
- When you allow society to portray women as objects.
- When you allow people that you know/love to portray women as objects.
- When you portray women as objects.
- And many more!
Let’s start a revolution. We can, we need too and in order to do so we need to educate ourselves on how we can stop harming ourselves and others. Together, let’s learn how to discontinue the oppression. Encourage women be whatever kind of women that they want to be. We need to be angry about how we are objectified, we need to be angry about how we are taught to objectify each other, we need to be angrier by banding together.