Beata Verkhavets, Period 2, 3/11/21, Day B

 Beata Verkhavets

March 11, 2021

Day A

Modern Mythology 2021

Socio-political Consciousness

- What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

    From my very first days consuming media that is posted on the internet, I had always noticed the... odd... nature of how women are portrayed and regarded through this media. From men dictating the way that women should present themselves, to ridiculous hypocrisy portrayed by those who judge women for doing the same things that men do, to harmful and unjust standards that women are forced to take on, I've realized that social media continues to feed into the same misogynistic narrative that has been thrown at women for as long as we can think of.

    It is far too common for men to dictate how women should present themselves, to the extent of setting an ideal weight for women to achieve, as well as an ideal style and "aesthetic." Additionally, I constantly see men inserting themselves into spaces that women create for themselves, violating that safety and comfort provided by this space. I constantly see this happen with social media accounts dedicated to uplifting women, as well as the destigmatization of things that occur to women naturally, such as menstruation or a woman's sexuality. If a woman is open about her sex life, or her sexuality in general, I constantly see men that feel that it is their job to bring this woman down, shame her, and try to shut down what she is saying. Then, you compare it to when a man is open about his sexuality, and how much praise he receives from others. This is just one of the thousands of double standards placed upon women on a day-to-day basis.

    (Content Warning: sexual assault.) Diving into a more serious topic, the topic of sexual assault. It is far too common that I see a woman bring up the severity of this issue in terms of how common it is for women to experience it at some point in their lifetime, and, without fail, I always see a man trying to "debunk" what she is saying, or just trying to make her seem like a fool in general. I see men poking fun at women and making jokes out of their experiences with sexual assault, and I see how seriously it impacts the mental health and overall safety of women. Men continue to create safe spaces for sexual predators, which horrifies me. What's even scarier is how many younger men, or even young boys are doing this.

    To be completely honest, the fact that it is completely normal for young boys to have a misogynistic/intolerant "phase" at some point in their life is utterly terrifying. No! It should not be normal for younger boys to have some sort of phase where they continuously bash women, including their female counterparts, simply for the fact that they are women. While these boys may eventually grow out of this phase, the effects they had left on the women, especially the young girls, that they harassed don't go away. Not to mention, some may not even grow out of that phase. It's become very evident that there needs to be change.

- How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

    Issues such as these are very delicate, and I have always been aware that I need to approach these types of situations carefully. I try to make sure that I always listen to the experiences of other women. I feel that one thing that people need to be is open minded when it comes to approaching this kind of issue. Too many people are rooted in their own beliefs and not willing to listen to others. I learned from my own frustrations when I would try to explain why something that a friend of mine was saying was harmful to me and other women, but they wouldn't listen. That frustration taught me to listen to others, even if I disagree with them initially. It may be difficult, but it's worth it in order to learn. Additionally, a few years ago I would say that I was relatively uneducated in terms of these kinds of issues, and I was still young. I'd make jokes in regards to women's issues that I would never say now, relatively insensitive jokes that I wish I could have taken back. Rather than continuing my ignorant ways, I forced myself to learn, and listen to the voices of others. I opened my eyes rather than being close-minded and saw the disastrous consequences of being ignorant. I realized that I, myself, deal with these issues, so why was I making light of such a situation? It took a lot of time for me to get where I am today, in regards to learning and listening. I don't ever plan on stopping, as I always want to know more about issues around me, and how I can help.