To a Better Place
This might be a pretty controversial opinion, but it's something I've been thinking about for a while now, and I think It will help me flesh out my thoughts if I express it in words--however incoherent they are.
In our society, there is a positive correlation of success and likability in men, but a negative correlation in women. I can think of specific person where this is true. She is a very career-oriented and I know her ambition will definitely lead her to success. But frankly, I can see how many of her peers are intimidated, or sometimes even detracted by her. Had this person been a guy, that detraction would have been reverence. As a female becomes more successful, men deem them less and less approachable, but this trend is black-and-white opposite with men; socially, society views successful men as a positive thing. And I think that sucks. Not only is this cultural stigma completely disempowering but, taking account creative and logical process in the brain differ by gender, society is doing itself a disservice by locking away 50% of its innovative potential. Society may already have discouraged potential female-Einsteins!
I think it's a good idea for this stigma to go away, but to be honest---as i see it---the current feminism is not the answer. I feel like it's going in the wrong direction. First off, I absolutely believe that women should have the same rights and freedom as men. But this does not mean women should strive to be men. The women's right movement has focused on 'braking barriers' to the point where it's evolved into some sort of cultural one-upmanship, to prove that women can do what men can do. Different genders excel at different things, and that should be embraced. It seems that this feminist movement has progressed to the point where women who want to fill a gender role actually feel shamed. It's like they are betraying the cause or something. (By the way, it shouldn't be controversial to acknowledge that the gender roles that we've had until recently, and that exist in nearly every animal species in this planet, actually do serve a purpose and results from an evolutionary process that found a system that works) Women should clearly have to right to do anything, but they shouldn't feel like they must step away from traditional roles.
In our society, there is a positive correlation of success and likability in men, but a negative correlation in women. I can think of specific person where this is true. She is a very career-oriented and I know her ambition will definitely lead her to success. But frankly, I can see how many of her peers are intimidated, or sometimes even detracted by her. Had this person been a guy, that detraction would have been reverence. As a female becomes more successful, men deem them less and less approachable, but this trend is black-and-white opposite with men; socially, society views successful men as a positive thing. And I think that sucks. Not only is this cultural stigma completely disempowering but, taking account creative and logical process in the brain differ by gender, society is doing itself a disservice by locking away 50% of its innovative potential. Society may already have discouraged potential female-Einsteins!
I think it's a good idea for this stigma to go away, but to be honest---as i see it---the current feminism is not the answer. I feel like it's going in the wrong direction. First off, I absolutely believe that women should have the same rights and freedom as men. But this does not mean women should strive to be men. The women's right movement has focused on 'braking barriers' to the point where it's evolved into some sort of cultural one-upmanship, to prove that women can do what men can do. Different genders excel at different things, and that should be embraced. It seems that this feminist movement has progressed to the point where women who want to fill a gender role actually feel shamed. It's like they are betraying the cause or something. (By the way, it shouldn't be controversial to acknowledge that the gender roles that we've had until recently, and that exist in nearly every animal species in this planet, actually do serve a purpose and results from an evolutionary process that found a system that works) Women should clearly have to right to do anything, but they shouldn't feel like they must step away from traditional roles.
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