Alright, so it seems that I'm just getting started on a blog about sexism. Pretty complicated, huh? Not really. In fact, I've been pretty interested in this issue for a few months now, and am only now realizing that change has to be made. Earlier on, I was like every young teenager on the planet--mainly focused on myself, worrying about my schoolwork, and thought that the world that I lived in was perfect. Well, turns out it's not. Ever since I became more and more advanced into high school, I've started to notice the true effects of sexism on our society. Boys think it's okay to catcall girls. I'm told at school that eventually I will grow up to be a housewife. Many of my friends seem to very limited to their endeavors due to the pressures held on to them from society. So it turns out...this is a huge problem. Not only is this happening in my school, but it is occurring in schools all over the world, from Belgium to Brazil. And when I say this, I mean it quite literally. Babi Souza of the "Vamos Juntas" (Let's Go Together) Facebook page said, "Only a woman understands what it is like to look over our shoulder and feel relief on realising that the person behind is another woman." This goes to show that sexual violence in some regions is extremely high and proves to be a great risk to women. Additionally, teenager Morena Perez said, "We get a lot of harassment, from a very young age. And it’s unacceptable...It’s because not only do they lack respect, but they lack courage. They think we’re an object.” And in Belgium, an entire law had to be created just to address the problem of sexism. So... it must now be obvious that this is a pretty prevalent issue. So many occurrences such as these are seen all over the world, and are proving to be a big problem in both terms of objectification, sexual violence, and equal opportunities. For that reason, I hope to create an enriching blog which may inform you and many others on such acts and will help for you to understand the pitfalls of our views. Sexism, in itself, is a problem, and I wish to address that problem as best as I can.
References
Osborn, C., & Sussman, N. (2015, March 23). Turning an Infamously Sexist City Into a Safe Place for Women. Retrieved from https://nextcity.org/features/view/fighting-street-harassment-rio-de-janiero-sexism-brazil-hollaback
Volokh, E. (2014, March 21). Belgium Bans a Wide Range of Sexist Speech. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/03/21/belgium-bans-a-wide-range-of-sexist-speech/
Xavier, M., & Simon, C. (2015, December 3). The Campaigners Challenging Misogyny and Sexism in Brazil. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/dec/03/sexism-misogyny-campaigners-brazil-social-media