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Here is an article I wrote last year...
I am a victim of this society.
It sucks you in and spits you out and leaves you miserable.
Women of the society in North America are wonderful, strong, talented women who are incredble multi-taskers. I am proud to say I am Canadian, and a woman, but I am also tired. Tired of what is expected of me.
Women - we fought so long and hard to have equal rights to men in this society. To have a right to education. To have a right to vote. To have a right to work. To not be objectified but respected for who we are on the inside. We fought for generations - yet we are still failing.
Look at these pictures:
The first picture is of a 3 year old in "skinny jeans". Now, for those of you that don't know - "Skinny jeans" are meant to be super fitted to show off curves on a womans body. Also, opposed to wearing baggy clothes that make you look "larger", skinny jeans cling to every curve in your body, and make you look "skinny". However, that is only if you are skinny. If you aren't, then you're not good enough in this society. Now, all I need to ask is: Why is a 3 year old wearing skinny jeans? Seriously?
The second picture is the typical North American girl. Never thin enough. Why? Because we are fed images in the media of these super ridiculous thin models and are told by men that this is what is attractive. We are just not made to look like the girl on the front of Vogue magazine. Nobody is. We strive for this unattainable image, because we are forced to. It makes for a lot of insecure, unhappy, overworked women who will never look like these models. And why? Because they don't even look like that - they're either anorexic and dying, or airbrushed.
The third picture - I just don't understand. We strive to not be objectified, yet an advertisement about vegetable oil (which mind you is for cooking), has a picture of a woman in her bra with massive implants. Maybe I am blind, but I don't see the link. The only thing I can think of is the expression I hear constantly in this society: "Sex sells". So of course, in order to sell cooking oil, it requires a naked woman. Ya....ok then. Makes perfect sense, right?
So, on top of having to have a perfect, unattainable image, so that men can treat us like objects in order to sell cooking oil, what else do we have to do? We have to work in order to support our family - just as men do in this society. Then, after a long day of work, we have to come home and prepare meals for our family, clean, do laundry, and take care of the children. We fought long and hard to have the right to work, but now that we work, our household chores have not been shared by men. We have a double-burden. We've burned ourselves out. And how often do men still have the audacity to complain about the way we look after a long day of this slave labour? Very often.
Yet, we women in this society turn to the Muslim world and call these women oppressed? Women cover up so a man does not look at the size of her breasts but listens to what she has to say. In the Islamic world, women are part of pageants where they are celebrated for their contribution to society and their intelligence - not how they look in a bikini. Men go to work, and bring home the money, and the woman is a housewife often times - yet men will still help out with the household chores. If a woman choses to work, as Islam states, her money is her own. She does not need to use this money to contribute to the family - that is solely the husbands responsibility. Futhermore, he has no right to even ask for this money unless she gives it to him. And when he gets home from work, the entire family spends time together, the husband doesn't go out to a strip club because his wife is not attractive enough for him. Rather, he embraces her, despite any flaws she may have, because he has a wife at home that loves him and cares for him. We in this society say that the Middle East is far behind the times, but really, are they? Women are so respected, so adored, so appreciated. If anyone has the burden, it is the man.
That all being said, I am proud to be a Canadian woman because it makes me multi-talented, but equally proud to be Muslim because I am respected and appreciated as a woman.
Please keep in mind I wrote this while still learning about Islam so if there are any mistakes, please forgive me.
I am a victim of this society.
It sucks you in and spits you out and leaves you miserable.
Women of the society in North America are wonderful, strong, talented women who are incredble multi-taskers. I am proud to say I am Canadian, and a woman, but I am also tired. Tired of what is expected of me.
Women - we fought so long and hard to have equal rights to men in this society. To have a right to education. To have a right to vote. To have a right to work. To not be objectified but respected for who we are on the inside. We fought for generations - yet we are still failing.
Look at these pictures:
The first picture is of a 3 year old in "skinny jeans". Now, for those of you that don't know - "Skinny jeans" are meant to be super fitted to show off curves on a womans body. Also, opposed to wearing baggy clothes that make you look "larger", skinny jeans cling to every curve in your body, and make you look "skinny". However, that is only if you are skinny. If you aren't, then you're not good enough in this society. Now, all I need to ask is: Why is a 3 year old wearing skinny jeans? Seriously?
The second picture is the typical North American girl. Never thin enough. Why? Because we are fed images in the media of these super ridiculous thin models and are told by men that this is what is attractive. We are just not made to look like the girl on the front of Vogue magazine. Nobody is. We strive for this unattainable image, because we are forced to. It makes for a lot of insecure, unhappy, overworked women who will never look like these models. And why? Because they don't even look like that - they're either anorexic and dying, or airbrushed.
The third picture - I just don't understand. We strive to not be objectified, yet an advertisement about vegetable oil (which mind you is for cooking), has a picture of a woman in her bra with massive implants. Maybe I am blind, but I don't see the link. The only thing I can think of is the expression I hear constantly in this society: "Sex sells". So of course, in order to sell cooking oil, it requires a naked woman. Ya....ok then. Makes perfect sense, right?
So, on top of having to have a perfect, unattainable image, so that men can treat us like objects in order to sell cooking oil, what else do we have to do? We have to work in order to support our family - just as men do in this society. Then, after a long day of work, we have to come home and prepare meals for our family, clean, do laundry, and take care of the children. We fought long and hard to have the right to work, but now that we work, our household chores have not been shared by men. We have a double-burden. We've burned ourselves out. And how often do men still have the audacity to complain about the way we look after a long day of this slave labour? Very often.
Yet, we women in this society turn to the Muslim world and call these women oppressed? Women cover up so a man does not look at the size of her breasts but listens to what she has to say. In the Islamic world, women are part of pageants where they are celebrated for their contribution to society and their intelligence - not how they look in a bikini. Men go to work, and bring home the money, and the woman is a housewife often times - yet men will still help out with the household chores. If a woman choses to work, as Islam states, her money is her own. She does not need to use this money to contribute to the family - that is solely the husbands responsibility. Futhermore, he has no right to even ask for this money unless she gives it to him. And when he gets home from work, the entire family spends time together, the husband doesn't go out to a strip club because his wife is not attractive enough for him. Rather, he embraces her, despite any flaws she may have, because he has a wife at home that loves him and cares for him. We in this society say that the Middle East is far behind the times, but really, are they? Women are so respected, so adored, so appreciated. If anyone has the burden, it is the man.
That all being said, I am proud to be a Canadian woman because it makes me multi-talented, but equally proud to be Muslim because I am respected and appreciated as a woman.
Please keep in mind I wrote this while still learning about Islam so if there are any mistakes, please forgive me.