Double Standards and the Media

I read once in a book that the worst thing to call a boy is a girl. Furthermore the worst insult to call a girl is a girl. What I'm saying calling a boy a girl when they get hurt and cry and tell them to man up encourages stereotypes. Furthermore what I mean is that if you call a girl a b***h which means female dog it is a insult. What's wrong in that? Whoever does that says that girl is an insult to society. Which isn't right.


Double standards. At first I didn't know what that meant, but I saw double standards in every media I read or watched. Double standards affects us all, both males and females, and in my opinion is a bad thing in society. 


What IS double standards? If you don't already know what it is, or you haven't used Google yet, then double standards is when, for example, if you are male you're allowed to sleep around and won't be frowned upon, but if you're female it's not the same thing, because you're called a b***h, a w***e and a s**t. But not males, oh no no.

If you still don't understand what double standards is, this is what Google said: 
                 Noun: A rule or principle that is unfairly applied in different ways to different people or groups


And the different groups/people we're talking about now are girls and boys. The media influences this a lot, and in my opinion it is unfair. It teaches teenagers that boys are powerful and don't have to be afraid of the bad consequences while girls have to be careful where they step so they won't get a bad reputation.


The media always brings to our attention of teens mum's, and they are always shown in a bad light. Truthfully there are more middle-aged women having children than girls. So, really, the media is over-exaggerating. We shouldn't really be so negative towards teenage mum's and we should really HELP them. Understand them. Not shun them.


The newspapers, in the sports area, are always portraying woman like sex objects. They call them "babes" especially in the Sun newspaper. And number 3 girls? Hah! I think that is very wrong, again showing us that women are sex objects and only those with beautiful bodies should be given most attention. 


That is another issue, as it is double standards and it does have something to do with teens. Girl teens. Because it is more likely for girls to die from anorexia or bulimia than boys, by suicide or starving or overweight. I myself am overweight and I'm always under pressure thanks to the media. I am happy with my body, but I'm pressured by my family to lose weight so I can be perfect like those anorexic models. I'm not saying my mum wants me to be anorexic, but maybe media does. Why? Because they always show photos of anorexic models as being the perfect way.

In every magazines, and I usually ignore those pages because they are *******, they show how to lose weight. OH! Look, this celebrity went from size 18 to size 10 in two weeks; this woman went to size 0 in one month and so can you! Yeah, sure. I can try dying or I can be happy with my body and enjoy my food. I would rather to the later, because that is healthier than being anorexic. So, magazines, no thank you. I wish others would feel the same, because I don't like reading about young girls dying from dieting. You look nice the way you are, but if your doctor says you have to lose weight, then I'm afraid you do. With a balance diet. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. You have to eat to be healthy, but not too much of too bad i.e.: sweets and fizzy drinks. And do exercise. Run, play tennis, swim. Don't go over the top.


Lastly, because I really need to go and have something to eat, is that half of the teenagers thought that it was Rihanna's fault for getting beaten up by then her boyfriend Chris Brown. And I blame all that on media and what they teach us. More on that later:


****Next? More teens and now going onto to young adults...and the media****


(Like I said before, leave a comment etc but don't insult me in any way as this is my opinion and I'm not insulting YOU by writing on here. I'll just ignore your comment. However feel free to comment and question my ideas, I will try and reply.


~Miru) 

The Colour Pink

I'm sitting here, on the sofa, debating about what to write in my first blog. I must confess, I'm terribly shy and self-conscious. But, this idea came over me. Right now I'm actually pretending I speak to a friend, because I guess whoever reads this is a friend and a feminist. And all feminists are friends, right? Hopefully, because if it's not so, then it's weird. Pretending to you are writing to a friend.

My name is Miruna, as it says on my profile. And my spell-checker just said I misspelled it. Yeah, just because it's a foreign name it is misspelled. Well, it's not.

Anyhow, I was speaking about the debate I had with myself. What should I write for my first blog? Well I'm going to start with the fact that I hate the whole shit that just because you are a girl you should wear pink; and if you are a boy you should wear blue. By the way I'm speaking of babies. I mean, when you're a teenager you get to choose what colours you wear right? (For some anyway, because my mum thinks brown suits me. NO IT DOESN'T!!! Especially pale brown. I like R-E-D because it's sensual, like me. Roar...).

I actually started thinking about this when I took sociology (and I only got a B...*sigh* four marks away from an A...). My first lesson was about how parents treat their babies, by their gender/sex. We also learned the difference from the definition of biology (sex) and of sociology (gender). But that's something else. (If you REALLY want to know, leave it in a comment I'll try and get back at you, but you can also use Google).

The booklet said that when we are born, the things in our life come from stereotypes. What I mean, for example, if you're a girl then you're made to wear "pretty, little pinky dresses" and you are given dolls and other girlish stuff to play with. While, if you're a boy, you're given "masculine, blue and green" trousers and T-shirts. You are given cars and figure men to play with.

It is also known that it is more likely for a girl to be taken to and from school by their parents/guardians while if you are a boy you are less likely. Really? Can't parents trust us, females, too? Does EVERYONE think we are weak? Not my parents anyway, because even in Romania I went to school by myself. Now, in London, I take the bus by myself and if it's snowing and the buses don't work anymore I have to walk. And am I alive? Am I well? You bet I am. Parents need to trust their daughters more, give them more freedom, or at least treat us equally.

I'm not saying my family is not stereotyping gender. Nup. Because they are. But what I'm saying it's that it's time for a big change. Because we can look after ourselves too, like boys.

What I also learned that day is that we learn our gender roles (i.e.: what the society expects of you if you're a boy and what the society expects of you if you're a girl), from our parents. We see our mum cooking, so us girls should stay home and cook. We saw our dad coming home from work, being breadwinners, so boys should do the same when adults. We copy what we see at our parents because when we're small they are our role models. And I'm not saying it's their fault...No-no-no-no, just a little bit, but what I'm saying it's the society's fault. Society, you suck. Media, you suck (expect your magazines. Man I love reading those magazines). But you still suck. Encouraging stereotyping, *tut tut*.

Media does encourage sexism. Both against male and females. But more against females. And it angers me, all the adverts encouraging the idea that the job of a woman is to stay at home, cook, have kids and have no freedom. I mean, my mum had freedom but now she's a single mum so obviously she has to work. My dad was sexist. (So am I apparently. I was told since I was in primary school. I'm a F-E-M-I-N-I-S-T. Ok?)

It was found that in cleaning adverts it is more likely for a man to do the voice-over while the woman does the cleaning. What does that mean? That men control women. And maybe they do. It's called a patriarchal society. Do I believe in that? You bet I do. And I believe it has to change. Quickly. Because us females, even though some might disagree, are important to the society. And by stopping treating us unequally the society can save money. The society will be a better place with equality. Because you DO need the man's competitive spirit, his business mind and his confidence, but you also need a woman's caring, understanding and empathy. Without a woman, there would be NO man, and vice versa.

We are born into this world and then we are stereotyped. We are taught our gender roles, and that we are not equal. We are taught to accept this, but I don't. And I bet there ARE people who don't believe in that. And I'm here to speak our mind, and to maybe educate people.

****Next time: Double standard and teenage years. How does media contribute even more?****

(PS: All opinions are welcomed, all comments and suggestions are read. I'll try and answer some, but if you insult me don't wait for my answer. You're not worth my time. You can have your opinion, you can be against feminism, but don't insult me because I won't insult you back. Thanks,

~Miru)