The outcry for gender equality has been ongoing and persistent as women strive for the equality that is rightfully deserved. Job opportunities, equal pay, fair access to general needs all have been ferociously advocated for by pioneering women who want to close the gender gap that is so evident in current culture.
Many definitive steps have been made that lessen the division between men and women. Just as prevalent, however, are the ignorant and dividing actions by social and political figures that crush the feminist movement and, once again, leave women leaps and bounds behind men.
From the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case, which allowed the Hobby Lobby company full exemption from federal laws that require them to provide contraception to female employees under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to the fact that women continue to make a mere $0.77 to a man’s $1.00 are just examples that accurately portray the uphill battle that women are facing every day.
The worst part of this entire dilemma? More examples are popping up as we speak, two weeks into 2016. Most recently, in Cologne, Germany by its mayor, Henriette Reker.
Amid many complaints from female victims of robbery and sexual assault in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, Reker made controversial jabs at those victimized.
Reker was quoted saying, “It is always possible to keep a certain distance that is longer than an arms length,” in reference to the women who made the complaints to the Cologne police.
Reker swiftly knocked down any credibility that the women had regarding their complaints and instead blamed them for not protecting themselves, simultaneously setting the forward swing of the feminist movement in a backwards motion.
A woman of political authority in the 21st century made these incredible statements -- and yet there are still people who wonder whether or not there is a true gender problem.
Reker’s comments are similar to the “girl in a red dress” example that received extreme backlash from the feminist community.
The story goes something like this: a girl who chooses to wear a red dress is, therefore, choosing to draw attention to herself. For that reason, if and when she is sexually assaulted, the perpetrator cannot be held accountable because the woman was “asking for it” by wearing this eye-catching red dress.
If you don’t see something wrong with this scenario, wake up.
Similarly, if you don’t see something wrong with Reker’s comments to the women experiencing physical assault, you need to educate yourself on how detrimental this is for women.
I will admit that I am no extreme feminist -- I don’t see men paying on a date as a move to undermine a woman’s income, just like I think that a traditional family dynamic where the woman stays at home and takes care of children is not necessarily giving into gender stereotypes, but rather a personal decision.
However, I wholeheartedly agree with the most basic, evident disparities between men and women.
It’s disheartening to know that there are still comments being thrown around by power figures that jeopardize this movement towards equality. But that shouldn’t hold anyone back from breaking down the gender barriers that have been so heavily ingrained in society.
We all heard the comments made by Mayor Reker last week, and we have all heard about the tribulations that women encounter that men will simply never experience.
The setbacks are inevitable, but the way in which they are handled, taken as lessons, and moved forward are resultants of choice.
