Feminism Around the World: Saudi Arabia

I've mostly been talking about feminism in the United States because as Americans we normally only concern ourselves with issues that affect us. But today I want to talk about feminism outside of the United States. Feminism and the issues women face are different in parts of the world. In much of the Middle East women have very limited rights, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

In Saudi Arabia, women have just recently gained the right to vote. 2015 is the first year women are allowed to vote. But that right came with conditions. Women are only allowed to vote in elections at a local level.

Women still don't have the right to drive. They just recently were allowed to ride bicycle. Even now women can't ride for transportation, only for "entertainment." Whatever that means. And if they go out they have to go out with their male chaperone.

There is a new movement called "Women2Drive" that is advocating the right for women to drive. There has been some interesting opposition to this movement. A lot of it has come from women themselves, both old and young. Many women feel that driving isn't a necessity. This article does a really good job at showing the women's opinion on the movement.

The chaperone thing is pretty messed up. Women can only leave the house with their male "protectors" permission. They can't go anywhere alone or without a male relative present. I'm not an expert in the Saudi Arabian culture, but the idea of this disgusts me. I am a very independent person I am used to doing things by myself, and sometimes prefer it that way. If I had to go everywhere with my dad, I mean I love my dad, but that would just be too much.

But what really pisses me off is the messed up laws on rape. If a women is raped she is usually punished more than the rapists. A rape victim can be punished with jail time and lashes for going out without a male chaperone and dishonoring her family. There was a rape case that came to light in 2006. The Girl of Qatif is a case where a girl was gang-raped by seven men. The victim was sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes. Yes you read that right, the victim of rape was sentenced to time in jail and 200 lashes. The reason? Not obeying the segregation of the sexes and bringing shame to her family. This really pisses me off. They physically punished the victim of rape.

This is completely unacceptable, yet not much has changed. Those laws are still in effect. The only good thing is people were outraged by this ruling. Outrage means people see the problem and care enough to begin to change things. This gives hope for the future. Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdulaziz wrote a list of things she would like to see changed in her country.

Tldr: Women have few rights in Saudi Arabia and the rape laws are fucked up. But things might be getting better. Tell me what you think in the comments.

Real Women Have Curves

I have love/hate relationship with this meme. I love the reason it started. It started as a way to boost the confidence of girls who carry a few extra pounds and to end fat shaming. It was a way to remind them that they are beautiful too. I think this is important in a society that glorifies skinny over healthy.

What I hate is that it uses the phrase "real women." A woman is any person who identifies as female. So don't tell me girls who aren't curvy aren't "real" and aren't beautiful. Skinny shaming won't end fat shaming. Tumblr user 365reasonstobeafeminist sums up the issue very well,

"[People who say this] fail to see that the biggest problem isn't what our beauty norm is, but the fact that we as a society have a beauty norm and women feel obliged to adapt to it. So, establishing a 'curvy beauty norm' is really just an extension of the problem, not a solution. What is and is not attractive should be up to the individual to decide." 

A similar movement has been to preach that "zero is not a size." This is similar to the "real women have curves" thing because it was started with a good purpose but ultimately it leaves some women feeling like they aren't good enough. This was started with the goal of telling women and girls that eating disorders are not good and their goal isn't realistic. But what these people forgot is that zero actually is a size. People have different body types. Some people are born with a natural slim physique.

 

Women are not defined by their body type, we are more than that. We are our body, our mind, our opinions, our likes and dislikes, our passions, our past, and so much more. It is impossible to define us by just our bodies.

Tldr: Women are beautiful regardless of body type. Just please stay healthy. Let me know wha toyu think in the comments.

Beauty Standards

Beauty standards are the guidelines for men and women in order to be deemed beautiful by society. Beauty standards are rather complex, they're different based on time period, gender, geographic region, race and many other factors. 

Currently, women are expected to look like Barbie. We're supposed to be tall, thin, and white, but not pale. We're supposed to have flawless skin without make up. We're supposed to have gorgeous hair without styling it. And if we are caught using make up or styling our hair, we're told we're vain. Bur if we don't we are told we don't care enough about ourselves.

Men also have it bad. They are expected to be taller than 6 feet, super buff, perfect hair, perfect complexion, and tan. And it's even worse if men are caught using make up or hair styling products, they are made fun of for being 'girly.' (More on why this is stupid later.)

The feminist movement has brought to light the consequences of telling men, women, boys, and girls that they are ugly if they don't fit within a very small constraints of socially accepted beauty.

 Most girls develop negative body image before they graduate high school. 

But boys are affected too. In high school a lot of boys are bullied and teased for being too small or not muscular enough. 

To promote positive body images, they had their employees model their new line of swimsuits.

There have been many different campaigns helping girls prove that their beauty isn't defined by society. It helps girls realize that they are beautiful no matter what society tells them about their body. There has been a more recent movement for girls to love their natural hair. There's also another movement that has been going on concurrently with both of these, a movement that tells women of color that they are beautiful too. It tells them that even with the majority of media being whitewashed, they are beautiful.

Sadly there isn't a huge movement that promotes positive body image for men and boys. There is a movement online for boys and men, but it mostly stays online and hasn't really gained much attention by many large social media outlets. But it is getting out there and becoming more popular. 

All of these movements are important. It is very important to tell people, especially young people, that they're beautiful and can be confident even if they don't fit into the socially accepted ideal of beauty. These movements tell people that they can define what beauty is and they can be happy and confident with the way they look no matter what other people think. Because above all else its about what makes you and what makes you feel beautiful in your skin. 

Tl;dr You are beautiful, no matter what. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Meninism

Feminism is a movement that has made a few people mad. For some reason they don't feel like women are people and deserve to be treated as such. The most recent response to feminism has been the meninism movement (the movement for the rights and equality of men).

This whole thing pisses me off. This whole movement started because of a satirical twitter account, @MeninistTweet. It's debated whether or not this account was actually joking. Some people argue that it was started by a feminist trying to use satire to bring attention to feminism. Other people say it was just some asshole making fun of feminism. But regardless of the origin story, people began to take this seriously and men's rights activists (MRA) began to pop up.

I think it is possible that it was started as a joke and some people realized that, but more and more people are taking it seriously. This shouldn't be something that is taken seriously.

The people that are taking this seriously aren't really pushing for equality they're just whining about perceived injustices against them. Most of what they are complaining about is unfair beauty standards for men, not having to pay for dates and getting free drinks, and being able to abuse women. 

It's a little ironic that the feminist movement takes care of two of these demands. Feminism recognizes that beauty standards are unfair for both men and women. Feminism also recognizes that it is unfair and a bit archaic to expect the man to pay for everything in a relationship. And aside from that if you don't like paying for dates then don't go on dates or do something that is cheap or free.

But the last issue is what really scares me. These MRAs are campaigning for the right to physically assault women. This is the exact opposite of gender equality; they want to assault someone simply because of their gender. This also kind of proves that feminism is necessary. It proves that there are people out there that think they are entitled to the right to beat women because they are better. That absolutely terrifies me, that some people think they deserve the right to abuse people. No one has the right to do that to anyone no matter what gender.

Even though most people realize that the meninist twitter account was a joke, this really isn't something that should be joked about. Joking about serious issues like this does not help anyone. It doesn't help the progress of the movement and it makes the movement seem like a joke.

There have been a variety of reactions to this men's rights movements. Some people have respond to meninist movement with satire of their own. 

Other people point out the flaws with meninism. 

Other people are letting their anger get the best of them.

While I don't like the meninist movement, I don't like this person's response to it either. I hate the movement and everything it stands for but you have to keep in mind that people do have the right to their opinion and the freedom of speech, as long as their opinions and speech aren't hurting someone else.

Tl;dr: Meninism is dumb. It started as a joke and now is being taken seriously. My feelings about meninism are summed up nicely in the picture below.

Sorry for the long post but I hope you thought it was worth the read. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Like a Girl

For a long time "like a girl" has been used as an insult. It means to do something in an wimpy or inadequate way. Usually used to describe physical abilities.

I grew up hearing people insult others by telling them they were doing something "like a girl." I knew it was an insult, but I never quite understood why. I was never told that being a girl was inherently bad. I was always told that I could do whatever I wanted and if it was a male dominated thing I was encouraged to try even harder.

Many girls didn't have this support. They grew up believing that because you're a girl, it means you can't be as strong, as fast, or as talented as boys their age. Recently the brand Always released a video to help teach girls that "like a girl" isn't an insult.

I absolutely love everything about this commercial. I love the message. It shows that girls are born with the confidence to whatever they want. But over time society conditions them to believe they aren't as good as boys their age. They created #likeagirl on Twitter to inspire girls to share their success and confidence.

However, some people (by people, I mean meninists and MRAs) were upset. They were so upset by the fact that something wasn't about them. They couldn't stand the fact that girls were gaining self confidence. They couldn't stand the fact that girls can believe that they are actually worth something. They couldn't stand the fact girls are beginning to realize that they are more than what society tells them they are or should be. They couldn't stand the idea that girls and women are powerful and not weak and wimpy in the way that the phrase "like a girl" used to imply.

They felt threatened by the confidence that this is giving girls. So they created #likeaboy. The people who created this hashtag are the reason we need #likeagirl and the feminism movement as a whole. The people behind this #likeaboy and the meninist "movement" would like us to believe that women already are equals in society (check out the wage gap between men and women), that men are victims of reverse sexism and that the feminist movement is hurting men (not true it actually helps men).

But don't let the haters get you down. Don't let anyone tell you that that being a girl is inherently bad. Be proud of who you are as a girl.

A Brief Introduction of Feminism

Slut.

You hit like a girl!

Real women have curves.

You can’t do that! You’re girl.

Women belong in the kitchen.

Real men don’t show their emotions.

Boys can’t play with dolls, they’re for girls

Men can’t get raped. They always want sex.

She was asking for it. Did you see what she was wearing?

God did not put a male in a female’s body. God does not make mistakes.

           

Someone has probably said at least one of these things, or something similar, to you at some point in your life. This is sexism, whether the person who said it meant it like that or not. Sexism is something that affects everyone: men and women, boys and girls.

I’ve heard many of these throughout my life, whether directed at me or someone else. Hell I’m guilty of saying some myself. I never really understood why it was so bad to say dolls are for boys or call a girl a slut or a whore if she slept with half the school. One day I came across the word “feminism.” I Googled it and it opened my mind to a shit ton of new information.

                

So here is a super brief overview of the history of women’s rights movements:

              

Abbigail Adams is often one of the people mentioned when talking about the roots of the feminist movement. She is often quoted warning her husband, John Adams, to make sure women have the right to vote. 

Women didn’t actually get the right to vote until 1893, 24 years after the suffrage movement began. And even then it was only in Colorado. The 19^th amendment, the amendment that gave women the right to vote, wasn’t ratified until 1919, 26 years later. It took 50 years of hard work and protest for women to gain national recognition as voters. (timeline)

           

After women gain the right to vote, women begin to make appearances in politics. Hattie W. Caraway of Arkansas was the first women to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1932.

In 1933, Frances Perkins becomes the first women to serve as a cabinet officer. 

In 1981, Sandra Day O’Conner became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. 

In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman to be nominated to be a vice president candidate. (timeline). 

            It wasn’t until 1963 that Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which supposedly meant employers had to pay women the same as the would a man if they were doing the same job. However, this was apparently a joke seeing as we are still fighting against a wage gap between men and women for doing the same job. (timeline)

            Okay so that is what feminism was. Feminism now is a completely different entity. It’s based on the same ideals but it has expanded quite a bit. It’s also not as uniform or specific. Instead of focusing on one issue, like the right to vote, modern feminism tackles many different topics. And like any movement the views and opinions vary greatly between each feminist.

            If you ask Google to define feminism it will tell you “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” This is technically correct, but it doesn’t encompass everything that feminism stands for. In general feminism is fighting against anything that demeans or belittles anyone of any gender or sex in anyway simply because of their gender or sex. So yes they do help fight against the double standards that affect men. But not the same way supposed men’s rights activists, or meninists fight for. (There’s probably going to be a rant on that later.)

           

Some specific things feminists fight:

• ·         Sexism in the media
• ·         Wage gap between men and women
• ·         The glass ceiling
• ·         Violence against women
• ·         Gender norms
• ·         “beauty” standards for both men and women
• ·         Transphobia
• ·         limitations reproductive rights
• ·         Sexism in dress codes
• ·         Expectations and marriage
• ·         The expectation that every women’s goal is to get married and have children
• ·         Body shaming
• ·         Slut shaming
• ·         Shaming men for being “feminine” and women for being “masculine”