2007
“I'm a drunk, I'm a pothead, a drug addict, a slut that got bounced around a little in a bar? So I didn't get raped?”
Right after a baby is born, it is asked if it is a boy or girl. -that happens right before the ultrasound technology of course- If it is a boy, the parents cheer and make dreams of how a strong and big man he is going to become in the future. If it is a girl, parents may cheer again but right after that they probably wish a good and lucky future to her maybe with a rich and strong husband. That is not the general speaking of course but it is a widespread thinking because of the gender divisions in today’s world.
Although there are recent developments in gender thinking, superiority of men over women is still usually seen as normal in many areas. Think about the behaving types of parents during the childhood of a newborn. If it is a boy “You are gonna be strong and rich, come on my boy! Wear these blue things!” and if it is a girl “Oh, pretty, you are so pretty. My dear, beautiful and pretty lady, let’s play some housing!” Despite the fact that hormones of both sexes are pretty decisive in gender attributes, it is also a fact that the behaviors of parents and effects of the environment leave very considerable traces in child’s personality.
In addition to the widespread view that woman is inferior, it is also important to mention about this widespread view’s effects in women’s daily lives. It is usually thought that men and women have different social roles and both genders must adjust them for the sake of overall happiness. Women do the housework, cooking for the family, feeding the baby etc. There are some limits on things they can do and if they pass those limits it is the right of men to punish them. On the other hand, men -the superior side- are in the front line whatever they do, good or bad. It doesn’t matter which stratification type you think while dividing two genders, in economic or social aspect, in traditional thinking or the physical comparison, it is always men’s side that is strong and legitimate. There have been some improvements on this unjust thinking in recent decades with the support of feminist thinking but it is still widespread, it still affects the lives of many women in a bad way.
The movie called ‘The Accused’ points out women’s desperate situation in a heart beating and disturbing way. Sarah Tobias, the leading character, a middle class member, an alcoholic and smoker, gets raped in a bar and this incident makes her life more desperate as the rapists are found as irresponsible assaulters in the court and she is unofficially blamed for the rape because of her so-called provoking dress or dancing. Also her alcohol use and smoking habit makes her statements less convincing.
Not only her psychology but also her social life is destroyed after the rape incident. In the movie her desperate situation, both before and after the rape incident is showed very clearly and also disturbing just like reality. I suppose the filmmakers felt it necessary to give the viewer exactly the horror Sarah Tobias endured while she was held down and repeatedly assaulted. During the movie you can’t escape the reality that women is seen as different –different in an inferior way- and you feel the inequality all over.
To conclude, it is a hard thing to make real but equality of men and women is a ‘must’ for the sake of a more just order in the world. There is a long way for this dream to become real as it has been more than centuries that man is superior over woman but with education and a better understanding of the inequality and thinking of possible long-term solutions for it may help to figure out the situation.
“I'm a drunk, I'm a pothead, a drug addict, a slut that got bounced around a little in a bar? So I didn't get raped?”
Right after a baby is born, it is asked if it is a boy or girl. -that happens right before the ultrasound technology of course- If it is a boy, the parents cheer and make dreams of how a strong and big man he is going to become in the future. If it is a girl, parents may cheer again but right after that they probably wish a good and lucky future to her maybe with a rich and strong husband. That is not the general speaking of course but it is a widespread thinking because of the gender divisions in today’s world.
Although there are recent developments in gender thinking, superiority of men over women is still usually seen as normal in many areas. Think about the behaving types of parents during the childhood of a newborn. If it is a boy “You are gonna be strong and rich, come on my boy! Wear these blue things!” and if it is a girl “Oh, pretty, you are so pretty. My dear, beautiful and pretty lady, let’s play some housing!” Despite the fact that hormones of both sexes are pretty decisive in gender attributes, it is also a fact that the behaviors of parents and effects of the environment leave very considerable traces in child’s personality.
In addition to the widespread view that woman is inferior, it is also important to mention about this widespread view’s effects in women’s daily lives. It is usually thought that men and women have different social roles and both genders must adjust them for the sake of overall happiness. Women do the housework, cooking for the family, feeding the baby etc. There are some limits on things they can do and if they pass those limits it is the right of men to punish them. On the other hand, men -the superior side- are in the front line whatever they do, good or bad. It doesn’t matter which stratification type you think while dividing two genders, in economic or social aspect, in traditional thinking or the physical comparison, it is always men’s side that is strong and legitimate. There have been some improvements on this unjust thinking in recent decades with the support of feminist thinking but it is still widespread, it still affects the lives of many women in a bad way.
The movie called ‘The Accused’ points out women’s desperate situation in a heart beating and disturbing way. Sarah Tobias, the leading character, a middle class member, an alcoholic and smoker, gets raped in a bar and this incident makes her life more desperate as the rapists are found as irresponsible assaulters in the court and she is unofficially blamed for the rape because of her so-called provoking dress or dancing. Also her alcohol use and smoking habit makes her statements less convincing.
Not only her psychology but also her social life is destroyed after the rape incident. In the movie her desperate situation, both before and after the rape incident is showed very clearly and also disturbing just like reality. I suppose the filmmakers felt it necessary to give the viewer exactly the horror Sarah Tobias endured while she was held down and repeatedly assaulted. During the movie you can’t escape the reality that women is seen as different –different in an inferior way- and you feel the inequality all over.
To conclude, it is a hard thing to make real but equality of men and women is a ‘must’ for the sake of a more just order in the world. There is a long way for this dream to become real as it has been more than centuries that man is superior over woman but with education and a better understanding of the inequality and thinking of possible long-term solutions for it may help to figure out the situation.
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