[大学二年级]
Feminism
is a range of social movements aiming at advocating or supporting women’s
rights and equality. Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to
campaign around the world. While women of different races and countries are
fighting for their rights in various ways, have we ever stopped to think about
its rationality? Are they “over-protesting”?
First,
I would like to raise a question: How did the view that “ men are superior to
women” emerge?
In
the ancient matrilineal
society, due to the ability to reproduce, women were in core position of a
large family, playing a leading role in production and life. With the
development of productive forces, agriculture and livestock husbandry were
getting more and more important and became significant material resources in
people’s life, which required a lot of heavy physical labors. Men, with their sturdy
frames, gradually held the leading post in the financial life. Thus the
patrilineal society with father and husband of a family in the dominant position
came into being.
From then on, women’s rights have been restricted. On the
one hand, they were forbidden to marry freely but“be married” to a husband they
might not know, carrying on the family line and
performing the duties of wives. On the other hand, they were not allowed to
seek a job outside but could only be supported by their husbands.
However, in the long river of history, women have never
stopped fighting for their rights. Take China as an example, earlier at the
1900s, Chinese women in Taibei already started raising a tidal wave of
feet-liberating movements, whose aim was boycotting the cruel tradition of
foot-binding. Then on March 8, 1907 Women’s education was legalized. Before the
founding of the new China was declared in October, 1949 the first
national-issued female publication Women
of the New China came into being, on which there was an inscription written
by Chairman Mao and General Zhu De. In the year of 1954, the first National
People’s Congress(NPC) was held and the female deputies came upon the stage as
the leaders of new China for the first time. And as the 20th century
was near the end, there was a law passed in the Seventh NPC in 1992 to guarantee
the rights and interests of Chinese women. With the long-time struggling women’s
role has indeed improved a lot.
What about their status in modern society?
In the social division of labor women have many merits
which make them more outstanding than men. Their sensitiveness, thoughtfulness
and other sex characteristics make them competent to the job of teaching,
nursing and offering nice services. Their carefulness, affinity and concentration
enable them to be capable leaders. But apart from the strengths above they also
suffer from a great deal of weakness. Bound by traditional ideas, women tend to
be satisfied with things as they are thus their efficiency are not likely to
grow as men do. Also, the employers offer less opportunity for female job
seekers, especially in some specific professions such as the high-tech
industry, in which women can always get a job no better than dealing with some
trifles. Additionally, the marital matters will greatly distract women’s energy
in work place, which results in the fact that with increasing age, their advantages
are waning. These can be seen in many
“want ads”, for example, “ Man Only” and “Unmarried First”.
Therefore, today
women’s role in family-caring is still much more remarkable than in
bread-earning. In other words, still there are not enough chances for them to
show their abilities. Though their status has been improved substantially there
might still be some overt or latent discriminations in our life. Through the
mass media we can have some clues.
According to the report from Xinhua News Agency in 2005, the
Association of Capital Female Journalists released a list of ads suspected of
being involved in sexism after conducting a spot check on ads played on 10
channels including CCTV1. Among those ads there was one promoting the sale of
Bubugao Electronic Dictionary. A girl was dancing to the music on the stage
with skimpy dress. The camera lens merely
focused on her sexy parts as well as provocative expression on her face,
which had no relation to the product until it appeared in the last shot. It was
criticized, for the girl was there only to arise the audience’s lust and she
was just a sexy adornment of that E-dictionary. Such kind of ads was countless not
only in the past but it is continuing in the current period. Another ad of
blended oil also aroused controversy, in which a father and a son was shooting
a video of a mother who was cooking with that oil. The wife prepared the meal
for the son and husband and then the son bestowed a gold medal for her. The
critics claimed that the ad emphasized a stereotype---the domestic wife and
social husband. In it women were to satisfy her families while the men, acted
as not only “enjoyers” but also reviewers, whose evaluation criterion was based
on whether the woman had well finished the housework or not. A potato chip’s ad
also had the honor to be on the list, though its plot was relatively simple. A
female staff asked a male one for help because her computer crashed. After he
managed to settle the problem he was attracted to the Lay’s chips on her desk,
thus he installed a good many computer games for her until he finished off the
chips. It seemed rather normal, right? Yet it suffered a pungent criticism that
it held the prejudice against female workers. Not able to solve simple
technical problems and only caring about snacks and computer games when
working, the image of female staffs in people’s mind was not dedicated with low
abilities, while the men were opposite.
Thanks to the journalists’ efforts we have the
opportunity to notice those covert “discriminations”. Nevertheless, in the tide
of feminist movements, we should try to stay sober and avoid being driven
irrational. The following advertisements are modern yet controversy. After
analyzing them calmly and objectively you may have new discoveries.
A popular chocolate bar called “Snickers”always wins people’s attention due to its
creative ads. In order to show its power to “sweep away the hunger” the company
invited the actor who had played the role of “Lin Daiyu”. In the ad she is
playing football in a team and her sickly looking draws ridicules from her
teammates. After eating a “Snickers” chocolate bar she suddenly turns into a
robust and vigorous man. Many people appreciate its vividness and originality
while others criticize it as an insult to women. Does it really aim to treat
women with prejudice? Probably not. Try to be less sensitive and please focus
on the seller’s real intension. Lin Daiyu is a household character in China who
is famous for her fragile and sickish features, so it is nonsense to
subjectively take her as a representative of Chinese women. There’s a more
exaggerated case which makes people speechless. An ad of car in which the woman
is sitting in the passenger seat has been sharply criticized because it
indicates that women are secondary to men and serving as an ornament.
Undoubtedly the critics are too touchy on this issue. Their sharp eyes are
hunting for any sign of “possible sexism” as if suffering from Paranoia.
It’s true that now women are more likely to appear on advertisements
of skin care products, cosmetics, bathroom goods or home furnishing while men
are advertising high-grade commodities such as watches, cellphones, cars, etc.
Meanwhile, they’re assailed by many people. “Women are acting as flatterers in
those ads, just like an economic good”,
ridiculed some activists. However, why can’t we just regard it as a normal value
or an aesthetic pursuit? It shouldn’t be a strange thing for women, a group
born with natural femininity, to show their inherent gender temperaments:elegance,
confidence and even the sexuality. What’s wrong with their graceful figures and
smooth skins on the screen? What’s the error of people who offer them a chance
to show their charisma? Why should we consider showing women’s personal charm
as an evil thing to criminate?
Can we reply with great confidence? Quite possibly not.
Another poster put up on Women’s Day has been stirring up
controversy, too. It says:
Look like a Girl,
Act like a Lady;
Think like a Man,
Work like a Boss.
However gender-biased it is in some radicals’ eyes, we cannot
deny that looking like a girl is not so bad, acting like a lady also seems very
genteel. It would be better if we all can improve our thinking and make
ourselves as ration as a steady man and as efficient as a boss. In this society
both men and women are equal to switch on the charm so it’s of no necessity to
make a fuss on everything concerning gender differences.
As a woman I don’t think I’ve suffered from any gender
discrimination, nor have I ever felt such a kind of depression or inferiority.
Many people think that men and women are generally equal except in some
less-important aspects. It’s reasonable and important for women to protest when
their rights are indeed infringed. However, the more important thing is to
learn to wield the weapons of law effectively to protect themselves instead of
staring at those trifles in life. This also requires that some relevant laws to
be passed by the government.
Stop “over-protesting” and to be more rational! In modern
society women are playing an irreplaceable role in family and society. I
believe that by improving the self-cultivation, women can stay harmonious with
men and bring their superiority into full play.
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