Gender Inequality: It Starts With Us

I grew up in a country where women are not treated with the same respect as men simply because females cannot carry her last name once she is married. I wish I can list more, but that is really it. Therefore, a woman’s sole existence on earth is to reproduce, and her value is based on the number of boys she birthed. Even in today’s society which we understand the sex of the baby is solely determined by men (since they have the XY chromosome), the large public still points its finger to the females, blaming her for the failure to properly deliver a baby boy into the family. Especially in mainland China, where the government practice the once child police, I have encountered stories such as families would eliminate their first child (if it is a she) in order to try again, until the mother got it right. And even if the family decided to keep their baby girl, her chance of getting an education is very slim. Her only hope, her ticket to happiness, is marrying someone rich or successful. This mindset, this forced acceptance of female inferiority to the men, is happening everywhere, globally. In some countries, it is less extreme, but in others, women are stripped of their femininity. They are, in some countries, pleasures for men.

The films that I have watched, “Miss Representation” and “Beyond Beats and Rhymes”, both have discussed how females are portrayed in media. Both films talked about the under representation of women, how the media heavily portrays women as sex objects and incapable of intelligence and dominance. And because the media infiltrates every aspect of our lives, the message about women in the entertainment industry becomes psychologically true to the viewers. Therefore, unless women take dominance and reconstruct the message of females in the media, then this concept of female inferiority is never going to change. Looking at some of the historical examples about gender injustice, I do admit that we have come a long way. Females have fought for their rights and have gained their rights constitutionally. But as far as social justice for women, we still have a long way to go. First, if we want to change the messages of women in media, we must change our own mindset, believing in our capability of intelligence and attain success. By believing in ourselves, we are then able to convince the mainstream media and the rest of the society. It starts with us.