Because I am a woman, I am told to be nurturing. I don’t want to have to nurture unless I want to. Because I am a woman, I am told to “get over it” and “stop being so dramatic.” But as a person, don’t I have the right to not get over something? If a man won’t stop complaining about his football team not making it to the Super Bowl, he’s allowed to not get over it since he has passion. But if I were to get excited about my favorite musician, I would be labeled as crazy and weird. I am always told to stop being dramatic, and I also get asked that when I show emotion, am I on my period? Why can’t I live my life? Everyone has emotions, so why can’t I show them. I know that men and boys are taught that they need to be strong, and to not cry, but frankly, the people that came up with such an idiotic idea was other men. When I hear about a man saying that men are as equally unequal, they always mention the male suicide rate. I am not at all saying that it should go ignored, but what I am saying is that men have set these systems up.
Gender equality is important. Equality is important for anything, especially gender. I think that gender equality is so important because it changes how people would perceive women. Women are painted in many different ways. For example, historically, women have been told to stay home, clean, cook, and take care of the children. But what if a man wants to do this? And what if a woman wants to work a blue collar job? I think that everyone should have the same opportunities. I don’t think we should label something as feminine, and when a man draws interest to it, he’s called names. Same with women.
When I was in elementary school, my teacher asked for volunteers to carry some chairs. Half of the class raised their hands, including me. When she noticed who was raising their hands she said: “I need some strong boys to carry these chairs.” I was in fourth grade. Even then, I realized the misogyny that I could face. When she realized that there werent enough boys to carry all of the chairs, she let me help. The boys got one chair in each hand, while I got two in each hand. I knew that I needed to prove myself. I think that its crazy that even when I was ten, I was being told that I wasn’t strong enough from an educator. Since then, any time a teacher has asked for volunteers to do some “heavy lifting” I always volunteer to show people that I can do it. And although I’m not a man, I assume that they may feel this way too. But they don’t need to prove that they’re physically able to do something, they just have to prove their dominance.
