Women have been construed through history as emotional and illogical. We are the weaker counterparts of our male figures. We have been treated as beneath them, as not able to take on as much. We are the nurturers and the care-givers, we are the emotional support.
Even in media, we have been portrayed as needing a male to save us and only due to our sexuality are we even rescued.
When did we let them take this away from us? I heard in an interview a women say that a female can’t be president because “If we are on our periods, we will be emotional and just start a war,” to which the inquirer responded with, “Haven’t all wars been started by men?” Yet we are the irrational ones. Makes sense, right?
Has anyone ever heard of the Bechdel test? It’s a simple list of criteria that will see if a movie is equal in female to male appearance. Here are the three requirements: are there more than two named female characters? Do those two named characters have a conversation at any point? Is that conversation about literally anything other than a man? Seems simple enough, however 45% of 2015’s biggest movies failed the Bechdel Test. Haven’t we proved that women alone can run a movie?
Now I will say, we are slowly evolving. Look at the huge book/blockbuster hit, The Hunger Games. This series revolved around a heroine who has to survive in order to save her family and her male partner as well. However, probably the biggest win for females in the box office happened with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This story doesn’t revolve around a romance, in fact the lead character, “Rey” barely has time to focus on any guys. She is thrown into this whirlwind adventure in which she realizes she has the power all along. This is the first time we ever have a lead, female Jedi. The movie broke numerous box-office records and gave girls a female role model who didn’t have to use her body to get hits. She has ambition and brains and never had to appear dumb or weak. In fact, she was stronger than most all of the guys in the film, rescuing them as well as herself. This is how females should be perceived, not as docile or crazy.
This is a turn for us, not just in media but in academics and careers. Women are taking over. The new Always commercials have revised the saying of “Like a girl” from a negative connotation to a positive connotation claiming that “72% of girls feel society limits them.” The term like a girl has been as perceived as being weak or not able to properly do the job. Women have their own strengths and “like a girl” should be a positive reinforcement.
Girls are sometimes viewed as dependent on boys and love-struck while guys have this uncaring image of the strong, care-free, player type who has tons of “b*tches.” However, this too is changing. I’m not saying we can’t ever break down or feel sad, in fact I don’t think that’s a weakness at all, but we are most certainly not spending 90% of our time writing our names in heart-shaped doodles all over our binder. We confuse emotions for weakness, when in reality, it shows strength of character to know when one needs help.
As Queen B would say, “Middle fingers up, put them hands high, wave it in his face, tell ’em boy bye.”
We don’t have to worry about how men perceive us. We don’t have to keep our voices low and our tempers docile. Our voices should be heard. “Slay trick, or you get eliminated.” It’s their turn to contend for our attention.
We don’t need guys to be happy, more and more girls are going out on their own, taking names and kicking butt. “Girl time” is becoming more important than spending time with a boy.
As Miley has explained, “But none of them are worth my time, you’re not even worth this rhyme.” We’re not helplessly waiting on guys, not anymore. We don’t need to chase. So while you’re off wondering why we aren’t blowing up your phone, hoping you’d give us girls attention, we’ll be out, doing our own thing.
Harry Potter, while a wonderful franchise that depicts the power of friendship and good versus evil, doesn’t completely get off the hook here. Although an amazing story, the female character has taken on the brainiac role, which also leads her to then being a bit irritating, bossy and unwanted, especially in the first few films. If a guy took on those character traits, he would be regarded as the leader of the group. This plays into the whole aspect of females having to either be dumb and sexy or smart and annoying. “Hermione,” the female character, even has trouble making friends and gets picked on due to how bright she is, which is telling females to suppress how smart they are, otherwise the males will get intimated and not like it. However, I will say she kicks butt and becomes very loved and respected as the story progresses.
As much as I loved watching the old, classic Indiana Jones film or James Bond, the female characters in these stories weren’t used as anything more than an object. A sexy object. We could’ve been replaced by a sexy lamp for all the females were used for. We are way more than something to look at and we are not to be underestimated.
Tomb Raider has been around since 1996, however “Lara Croft” was an over-sexualized character meant for guys to gawk at. In 2013, the Tomb Raider series was revised Square Enix and included a more realistic-looking, female architect who has to end up saving all of her friends- male and female. It shows her struggles, but more than that, it shows a tough female overcoming her problems, not just whining about it. This game became a huge hit and now has a sequel that just released. This gives girls something to look up to, it shows girls that they can climb mountains or fight bad guys, that hero lifestyle isn’t just for the men in our society. Watch out, females are taking over.
We don’t need to be rescued anymore. In fact, treat us nice or we won’t always be around to rescue you. (We most likely still will.)
This isn’t meant to put down guys, in any way, more so to show the inequality that is still happening, in both media and in life. While we are progressing, we still have a long way to go. Women should be able to fight and women should be able to cry, just as men should.
So, yes, we run like girls, everyone else needs to try and keep up.
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