I thought I published this already but according to my dashboard it is only a draft. I wrote this a long time ago for a friend to use on her paper. That's right, I've been cited in a scholarly essay. Any ways, I'm going to post this now. Enjoy.
As the centuries have gone by, one tends to look back and marvel at all the changes we, as women, have gone through. Throughout history we have fought, cried, and done things that maybe we are not proud of, all for the sake of claiming our freedom as women. To show that we are not the weaker sex and that we can do whatever we want. It is a woman's world today and even though it is debatable as to if we truly are equal to man, we can at least say that we are free right? However, when you think about it, just how free are we?
I want to solely focus on one thing here so lets look at clothing. Although this may not seem like a big factor in deciding our freedom, think about the changes that clothing has brought about. In the 1950s women wore the pearls. A symbol of the angelic house wife; vacuuming in pearls. It was ideal to be the perfect housewife and to be home for the kids and your husband. Then in the 1980s a change happened, women began to wear shoulder pads and suits. This was done to bring about a change in how women were viewed in the workplace, by giving themselves a more "manly" look at the office it allowed them to be as cut throat as the men and viewed as such. They moved up in the business world and now overrun it. We went from being docile, home-bodie creatures to man slaughtering business women. All was helped with fashion and how we allowed ourselves to be perceived.
When one thinks to today and women's fashion, one would say that women have never had more freedom. We are allowed to dress any way that we want so of course we are free. Well not exactly. Many look at other cultures to compare an American woman's freedom and the easiest thing to exam is the difference in clothing. One other culture that we easily see on our soil is the Muslim women. This is more of a religious difference than culture I realize, but what affects are culture most if not religion? One could look at the Muslim woman with her hijab on and covered from wrist to ankle and instantly think, 'that poor girl, she is so oppressed'. But how oppressed is she really? She wears those out of choice and it is done not as a degradation to the woman form. Muslim women are viewed to be so beautiful that they are a distraction to Muslim men. "If they weren't covered, we never get anything done!" says Mohammed Young a born Muslim man. His wife, Charissa, agreed and stated, "Everyone thinks that they are so free when in reality the media oppresses them into wearing what they want."
The hijab is the hardest thing to get over; I mean they have to cover their hair. That is one of the main things that sets us apart as individuals. However, take one look at the Hasidic Jews and you would think twice about a hijab. Most Hasidic Jewish women cover their hair with sheitel or wig and others with a tichel or scarf. However, when a Hasidic Jewish woman in the Satmar group gets married they have to shave their head. This is not just for the wedding ceremony either, they have to keep it shaved for the rest of their lives. Although we may see this as extreme, just think about how many times either you or a friend complained and stated that they were going to "just shave it all off"? All because their hair didn't look a certain way or behave a certain way.
How free are we? America is so sexualized it begs to ask the question. Charissa Young is a revert, not born Muslim, she grew up with the same freedoms as every American girl. So it why would she want to convert into this religion if it is so oppressive to women? Everyday we see sex, the woman's body is put on display, and whether it looks like you or not it affects your decision in how you dress that day. There have been many days when I spent hours trying to find something to wear and nothing was good enough because I didn't fell pretty or fashionable compared to the women on the screens. I'm sure not everyone feels that way but it is impossible for you not to be affected by t.v. or movies, or magazines. We see women like Muslims or Hasidic Jews as oppressed but is it no that we are really the ones who are oppressed? We have to deal with the pressures of what a woman is as a sex object. So when you think about it, is there really a woman in the world who is actually free?
As the centuries have gone by, one tends to look back and marvel at all the changes we, as women, have gone through. Throughout history we have fought, cried, and done things that maybe we are not proud of, all for the sake of claiming our freedom as women. To show that we are not the weaker sex and that we can do whatever we want. It is a woman's world today and even though it is debatable as to if we truly are equal to man, we can at least say that we are free right? However, when you think about it, just how free are we?
I want to solely focus on one thing here so lets look at clothing. Although this may not seem like a big factor in deciding our freedom, think about the changes that clothing has brought about. In the 1950s women wore the pearls. A symbol of the angelic house wife; vacuuming in pearls. It was ideal to be the perfect housewife and to be home for the kids and your husband. Then in the 1980s a change happened, women began to wear shoulder pads and suits. This was done to bring about a change in how women were viewed in the workplace, by giving themselves a more "manly" look at the office it allowed them to be as cut throat as the men and viewed as such. They moved up in the business world and now overrun it. We went from being docile, home-bodie creatures to man slaughtering business women. All was helped with fashion and how we allowed ourselves to be perceived.
When one thinks to today and women's fashion, one would say that women have never had more freedom. We are allowed to dress any way that we want so of course we are free. Well not exactly. Many look at other cultures to compare an American woman's freedom and the easiest thing to exam is the difference in clothing. One other culture that we easily see on our soil is the Muslim women. This is more of a religious difference than culture I realize, but what affects are culture most if not religion? One could look at the Muslim woman with her hijab on and covered from wrist to ankle and instantly think, 'that poor girl, she is so oppressed'. But how oppressed is she really? She wears those out of choice and it is done not as a degradation to the woman form. Muslim women are viewed to be so beautiful that they are a distraction to Muslim men. "If they weren't covered, we never get anything done!" says Mohammed Young a born Muslim man. His wife, Charissa, agreed and stated, "Everyone thinks that they are so free when in reality the media oppresses them into wearing what they want."
The hijab is the hardest thing to get over; I mean they have to cover their hair. That is one of the main things that sets us apart as individuals. However, take one look at the Hasidic Jews and you would think twice about a hijab. Most Hasidic Jewish women cover their hair with sheitel or wig and others with a tichel or scarf. However, when a Hasidic Jewish woman in the Satmar group gets married they have to shave their head. This is not just for the wedding ceremony either, they have to keep it shaved for the rest of their lives. Although we may see this as extreme, just think about how many times either you or a friend complained and stated that they were going to "just shave it all off"? All because their hair didn't look a certain way or behave a certain way.
How free are we? America is so sexualized it begs to ask the question. Charissa Young is a revert, not born Muslim, she grew up with the same freedoms as every American girl. So it why would she want to convert into this religion if it is so oppressive to women? Everyday we see sex, the woman's body is put on display, and whether it looks like you or not it affects your decision in how you dress that day. There have been many days when I spent hours trying to find something to wear and nothing was good enough because I didn't fell pretty or fashionable compared to the women on the screens. I'm sure not everyone feels that way but it is impossible for you not to be affected by t.v. or movies, or magazines. We see women like Muslims or Hasidic Jews as oppressed but is it no that we are really the ones who are oppressed? We have to deal with the pressures of what a woman is as a sex object. So when you think about it, is there really a woman in the world who is actually free?
