Premium Essay

The Oppression Of Women In America

Submitted By
Words 819
Pages 4
Almost any woman in America will be able to talk at length about the oppressive beauty standards our country puts on us. The pressure to conform and be effortlessly perfect is created by media that shows us flawless models and actresses who have entire teams devoted to their makeup, fitness plan, wardrobe, and photoshop. The male gaze creates this standard and many women of America are just desperately trying to keep up. It is an impossible height for us to reach and is even more difficult for women in the global south. Globalization has made the world smaller in that we can talk and share across cultures quickly. While we cannot control what other countries learn from our culture, we can see the devastating effects on women’s bodies all …show more content…
While America is more diverse than other Global North nations, as we pride ourselves on being a melting pot of cultures while simultaneously shunning anything the majority percieves as different, it is not often that our media reflects the many different lives that make up our country. All people can see on any channel they turn to is devastatingly perfect white women as objects of desire; this tells heterosexual men what type of bodies they should be attracted to and women what they need to look like to be loved and wanted. As women, we are taught male approval and, by extension, their love should be the focal point of our lives. The lack of realistic representation shames women and teaches them they are not good enough on their own. This can cause many women all over the world struggle with their physical …show more content…
Many of them exists in communities and cultures that encourage far more drastic measures than the ones I have personally attempted. Our textbook shows numerous heartbreaking examples of young women undergoing skin lightening treatments and extreme surgery just to fit this eurocentric image. It’s horrifying to read about the lengths these women will go to just to achieve the impossible, but it’s even more terrifying to live in a world which has normalized such measures. No one gawks at the idea of Asian women getting eyelid surgery or splitting their bones apart so calcium will fill in the gaps. It’s not a surprise when a sixteen year old girl rips herself open and to fill her body with silicone. Jewish women receiving a new nose as a birthday gift is just another sitcom joke with a queued laugh track. The plastic surgery industry will only keep growing; it will continue to feed on the insecurities of women all over the world, held prisoner by the fear that they are not and will never be the women society tells them they should already

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Latin Women In America

...in the U.S. As a whole, the Latino community has faced a world of hatred by American society. This oppression includes stereotypes, lack of opportunity, and dehumanization. Progress has been made over the decades, and issues like these have been introduced to a mainstream light. However, many disregard the injustices Latina women constantly face due to their race and gender. Many people, including some Latinas, are unaware of the many forms of oppression Latinas face by merely existing in America. This begs the question: How are Latina women oppressed in modern America? My initial hypothesis on this subject is that Latina women face many types of oppression that come from a combination of their womanhood and race. This is true due to the fact that, even in their own communities, Latinas are seen as inferior due to their gender and background. It can be observed that Latinas have their own experience with patriarchy and white supremacies. Furthermore, they must also cope with machismo, which are patriarchal beliefs held by Latino men. Based on machismo, men often abuse or take advantage of the women in their lives. As a woman, Latina’s issues are often overlooked and seen as insignificant. Rather than addressed, these injustices, are often...

Words: 509 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Oppression Among Gender Race and Class

...According to Heldke & O’Connor (2004:530), oppression means the unfair treatment of people by the ruling group. People are not always oppressed by cruel tyrants with bad intentions. Oppression also creates injustice in other circumstances, as well. In many cases, a well-intentioned liberal society can place system wide constraints on groups and limit their freedom. Oppression can be the result of a few people’s choices or policies that cause embedded unquestioned norms, habits, and symbols These societal rules can become a “restrictive structure of forces and barriers that immobilize and reduce a group or category of people” (Heldke & O’Connor 2004:530). “Class refers to endure and systematic differences in access to and control over production of goods and services, as well as the resources for provisioning and survival” (Acker 2006: 442). “Gender, refers to the socially constructed differences between male and female and the beliefs and identities that support difference and inequality, is also present in all organizations” (Acker 2006:444). “Race, refers to socially defined differences based on physical characteristics, culture, and historical domination and oppression, justified by entrenched beliefs” (Weber 2001 :10).This paper will analyze and discuss the issue of oppressions in relation to class, gender, and race using W.E.B. Du Bois’ thoughts on race, gender, and class. Also, the intersectional theory according to Patricia Hill Collins will be used for analyzing...

Words: 2635 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Womens Liberation Movement

...Womens Liberation Movement Why did the Women’s Liberation Movement Emerge in the late 1960’s? Discuss with reference to Britain and the United States of America. In a decade where the whole world was experiencing revolutions due to social discontent, this increased the desire, of women, in the late 1960’s to ‘confront existing structures of oppression,’ giving the impetus for the emergence of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Caine argues the emergence of the movement bought a ‘new tone,’ when discussing women’s oppression. Rather than focusing directly on women’s suffrage, this was a political movement demanding ‘rapid and radical change,’ in an ever increasing ambience of liberalisation. Upon inception, it is vital to highlight one can account different reasons for the emergence of the movement in Britain and America, as different domestic situations led to different reasons for the emergence of a more radical form of feminism. This essay, together with a multiplicity of historians, will consider the importance of World War II and the Civil Rights Movement, and the impact they had on the emergence of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Linked to this is the ever apparent discrimination women faced and increasing desires to change this, coupled with developments of new opportunities, demonstrated by the aforementioned world events. Additionally, the impact of literature such as Betty Friedan’s, The Feminine Mystique, needs to be considered. Whilst all the factors play an...

Words: 312 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Women In The Civil Rights Movement

...For decades, America has been a white male dominated society, laws and policies dictated by white male elites, shaping our society and deciding the hegemonic groups. We commonly hear and refer to the civil rights movement of the 1960’s when speaking of social movements, however, another major social movement was taking place during this time period. The fight for women’s rights. The women’s movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s sparked the second-wave of the “feminist movement.” Feminism can be defined as “a theory and/or movement concerned with advancing the position of women through such means as achievement of political, legal, or economic rights equal to those granted men (Offen, Pg. 123).” There are still no clear origins for the word feminism...

Words: 1487 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Women Oppression

...Interview of the Oppressed Individual Introduction For centuries women has played the role of being the “underdog”; they have had to deal with being treated unequally in all respects. These women are being discriminated against based on their gender, this is known as sexism. Not only are women victims of sexism, but they are also victims of systematic discrimination, known as oppression. In the past, women were not known for their value as human beings and contributions to society as a whole; instead, they were confined to the home and valued for the children they could bear and reduced to the property of their husbands. Although women’s oppression has changed throughout time, it still remains a constant issue in today’s society. Black Woman in Cooperate America Ms. Boyd is a Transition Assistant Manager at Allstate Insurance Company. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English which helps her to adhere to her job description. Her job consists of training individuals in insurance sales and assists them in developing the correct skills to meet the long and short term goals of the company. Being that she is an African American woman in cooperate America, she is constantly faced with many troubles and she experiences unfair treatment being that she is a woman. This oppressed individual is constantly viewed as inferior to those around her because of her skin color as well as her gender. When interviewing her she informed me that men get paid $7,000 more in salary annually. She expressed...

Words: 1660 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Sojourner Truth's Speech Analysis

...doubting the ability of women to partake in politics due to stereotypical images of White womanhood (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 153). The speech perfect-ly introduces the problem of intersectionality as early as in 1851. Since then changes have been made, the situation of Black people in the United States now differs greatly from the Post-civil war period of the 19th century and even from the 1950s, which were marked by Jim Crow and wildly accepted racism of that time, as well as an atmosphere of violence and oppression. For women as well things have changed, the suffragette movements of Europe and the United States established political...

Words: 444 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Us-Mexico Border Organization

...was founded on migrants coming to America for a better life and has been a beacon of hope and possibility, for hundreds of years. For those living just across the border in impoverished circumstances, subject to deplorable conditions, and or with no civil rights, the United States is a way out of a miserable existence and quite literally a means of survival. Willing to face almost certain danger, hundreds of migrants attempt to enter into the U.S. illegally from the U.S.-Mexico border daily. It is under the pretext of protecting our nation, its borders and the structural organization that supports this institution, that inhuman treatment occurs....

Words: 1794 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

A Comparison of Constitutions

...united states of America and the two declarations passed by the national assembly in France, the declaration of the rights of man, and the declaration of the rights of women, have many things in common and serve similar purpose‘s. All of these documents were set in place by the people and for the people. These documents were made to protect and uphold the rights of the people. All state that Men and Women are created equal with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The aim of the many writers who collaborated on these documents is to protect the rights of liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. That government must protect these natural rights, and that political power is derived from the people. Every citizen has the right to speak freely, write, and print. Both the declaration of man and woman, and the declaration of independence were written under the oppression of two Kings considered to be a tyrants. The declaration of independence fought for the freedom from English oppression and the rights of men and women. As for the declaration of the rights of Man and Woman, fought for the rights of the French people under the oppression of king Louis XVI. Both declarations were written to protect the rights of the people who wrote them, as well as ensure a future not governed by a dictator, but one that is governed by the natural imprescriptible rights of free Men and Women. Many of...

Words: 908 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Examples Of Satire In The Handmaid's Tale

...she lives. She creates a negative utopia informing Americans of the possible implications of their actions and ideals. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale displays the horrifying results of a society that oppresses women, feuds over Religious differences, and does not equally represent citizens to indicate American society’s harmful trends and suggests the need for urgent change. Margaret Atwood displays women’s oppression in current society through the Republic of Gilead, a negative utopia which bases its governing law in the Old Testament of the Bible. The conservative society lays under “the Eyes of God” (Atwood 193) and gives little rights to women of...

Words: 763 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Matrix Of Domination

...The history of women striving to earn equality in society hasn’t been an easy task because men have been historically dominating and ruling the society in their own way. Women have been through many discrimination regardless their race, class, and color just because men believes women has less ability to take charge of the society. Both Collins in the “Matrix of domination” and Beauvoir by “Woman as other” presents us the history of gender discrimination from a feminist perspective. These two authors present theories on how men dominate women for their own benefit. Moreover, Collins theorized that there are many forms of discrimination in our society and each is interconnected with the other. On the other hand, Beauvoir shows us many tactics...

Words: 867 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Examples of Class & Gender in Music and Film

...Drew Daniels SOC 3381 25 October 2015 Class and Gender in Music and Film On the outside, America appears to be the land of opportunity, the land of freedom, and the land of equality. On the inside, this is anything but the truth. There are age-old systems of oppression built to keep long outdated beliefs in place today, and for many groups of people, it is inescapable. These systems cause social harm to lower class communities, to women, to non-binary peoples, and the most to individuals who fall into more than one of those classifications. Many writers and artists have sought to bring these issues of inequality into the public eye, having the most success telling their stories or the stories of others through music and film. Class oppression is very tricky subject to bring to light and analyze. While the American economic system is built in a way that allows everyone equal opportunities, there are limits that make it sometimes near impossible for lower and working class individuals to build better lives for themselves, limits that are not obvious to someone living outside of the poverty line. Jason DeParle writes about Kathryn Edin, a social worker who studies mothers in poverty and the struggles they go through providing for their children on but a monthly welfare check. While these mothers have the opportunity to get a job to support their families, they are often better off receiving government benefits; they can stay home and care for the children and take advantage...

Words: 1453 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Ntozake’s Message

...was to show how the power of black women is very important to remember and it expresses the struggles and obstacles that African America women face throughout their life. Ntozake also showed that the value of friendship is very important. The bond between the ladies shows that friendships can prove comfort and stability during rough times in their lives. They confront their feelings about race showing that they can still be strong, beautiful women. The quote, “bein alive and bein a women and bein colored is a metaphysical dilemma, I haven’t conquered yet” (Shange 59), the women is being blatantly honest about being looked down upon in American because of her race and gender. Her status as a black women carries its own challenges and hard times which is really sad to think that these women were treated so poorly for being a different race. These women are strong though they learn to appreciate their race, gender, and beauty and turn to each other for support. I think this is very inspiring as a young women to read and learn about how these women worked together to overcome their hard times. I think this is some every person should remember when struggling with certain issues in their life. The women in the play use poetry to share their thoughts and fears and share their experiences. They find power in their struggles. In the Intro to Afro-American Studies it states that, “Over 52% of all Black people in the United States are women. Women play a special role in bearing children...

Words: 906 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Women

...For centuries women has played the role of being the “underdog”; they have had to deal with being treated unequally in all respects. These women are being discriminated against based on their gender, this is known as sexism. Not only are women victims of sexism, but they are also victims of systematic discrimination, known as oppression. In the past, women were not known for their value as human beings and contributions to society as a whole; instead, they were confined to the home and valued for the children they could bear and reduced to the property of their husbands. Although women’s oppression has changed throughout time, it still remains a constant issue in today’s society. Black Woman in Cooperate America Ms. Boyd is a Transition Assistant Manager at Allstate Insurance Company. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English which helps her to adhere to her job description. Her job consists of training individuals in insurance sales and assists them in developing the correct skills to meet the long and short term goals of the company. Being that she is an African American woman in cooperate America, she is constantly faced with many troubles and she experiences unfair treatment being that she is a woman. This oppressed individual is constantly viewed as inferior to those around her because of her skin color as well as her gender. When interviewing her she informed me that men get paid $7,000 more in salary annually. She expressed great disposition when discussing this matter...

Words: 334 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Oppression Against Women: When Will It End

...Espino March 20, 2012 When Will It End Throughout history, women have been thought of and treated as the weaker gender. Thought to be but mothers and wives, women have begun to change their identity. In recent years, women have been provided with the opportunity of obtain a higher education. With that, they are provided with better opportunities to build careers for themselves. Plenty of women today have succeeded in life without the help of men and are able to work in the same fields as them. Even though they have succeeded throughout the last years, women today still face oppression as they did in the past. An area in which women still face oppression today, as they always have, is in the work place. Although many women have great careers today, men still have an advantage given the fact that they regularly get paid more. In a study done by the General Accountability Office (GAO), the numbers show the difference between a women’s paycheck and that of a man’s. According to the GAO, “Even accounting for factors such as occupation, industry, race, marital status and job tenure, working women today earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. This pay gap has persisted for the past two decades.” Despite enormous gains made by the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Right Movement, men still obtain about 75% of all doctor and lawyer jobs in the United States. Whether these women have a higher education than that of their male coworkers, it...

Words: 703 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Discrimination at Work Place

...statistical data, who is involved, etc.), balanced (you need to present the different view points), critical (who is right or wrong, for which reasons), and conclusive (so what? What to conclude). ETHNIC AND CULTURAL AWARENESS AT WORKPLACE Abstract This paper examines how Hispanic struggles within the workplace to negative factors such as discrimination, unfairness, injustice and harassment. It also places emphasis on historical and comptemporary antedecants, multiculturalism, and oppression. Introduction In an ideal world, every person is treated equally when it comes to getting a job, advancing in their career, and being treated fairly in the workplace. However in reality, we know this is not the case. Racial discrimination does still exist in hiring, firing, and promotions and unfortunately discrimination against Hispanics in the workplace is on the rise. As the economy worsens and job losses mount in America, there is an increase in discrimination toward Hispanics in the workplace in America. Racial discrimination poses a large problem in the American workplace. Racial discrimination affects people all over the world. In defining racial discrimination, the National Research Council differentiates between differential treatment and differential effects, creating a two-part definition: one being differential treatment on the basis of race that disadvantages a racial group and two being treatment on the basis of...

Words: 2635 - Pages: 11