Welcome to a world that is aims to knock women down than build them up.
It's not easy being a woman in today's society. We are stuck in a man's world surrounded by unrealistic expectations and standards we can never fit. There are certain phrases or situations cisgender males, in particular, will never have to experience. Even if they don't, it's important to know what is going on.
They will never be told to "Smile" in public.
People often don't recognize this, but telling someone to "smile" walking down the street minding your own business by someone you do not know, your character, or even your name emotes subtle sexism. The reason being is because women are automatically thought of as men's property through the eyes and that females needs to be what they (the males) want. Women don't need to smile for anyone if they are told to. There's trying to cheer someone up that you know and then there's being a creep to a stranger. Women will do as they please and no one should tell them otherwise.
They will never know the feeling of holding keys between their fingers at night.
One in 5 women will be raped in their lifetime, but our chance of being attacked by a shark is 1 in 3,748,067 regardless of gender. Most rapes that are committed are by people the victim knows on an acquaintance base or closer. When it's dark out, the likelihood of being attacked to some degree is higher as a female; we're seen as a "weaker" gender. Males can walk peacefully down the street without being called derogatory names and seen as a sex object. Women on the other hand have a higher likelihood of being stalked, called names, whistled at, groped, and or violated.
They will never know what it's like to make less money.
It's a proven fact that white women make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes, black women make 64 cents to every dollar, and Latinx women make 55 cents . There is a wage gap no matter which way you look at it. I can earn the same degree as a male counterpart and earn less just because I am a woman. Men can be seen as slightly aggressive in order to receive a higher pay while women must remain quite and poised. If we speak out to receive a higher pay, we are stepping out of line as a woman.
They will never know the feeling of being shamed for being sexual.
There is a double standard when it comes to women and men engaging in sexual activity. Men and women have sex, some more than others or none at all. Men will be praised for getting laid while women are seen as dirty, no longer pure, or a slut. Within the last few years, women have gone and reclaimed what it means to be a "slut". Slut walks have been held, women have come forward telling stories the shame they have received, and most importantly, reclaiming their sexuality. There is also that stigma that there is something wrong if women aren't engaging in sexual activities. Women are allowed to have sex whenever they please or not at all. We shouldn't shame women for doing and feeling what they want.
They will never know the feeling of being taken out of their education because their clothing is a "distraction".
It seems like every week I read a new story about a girl being taken out of the classroom where she is supposed to be getting an education because skin is showing. I know, it's a crazy concept that women have skin. What a girl wears has no correlation to the learning of herself or peers. If someone is distracted by what a woman is wearing, maybe it's not the clothing. It is the social construct that women are supposed to be over-sexualized and that as a society we must "protect" the male in order for him to learn. It's never the clothing. Dress codes enable rape culture because it demonstrates the fact we must restrict the women for the males' protection. Schools would rather cover a teenage girl who wants to stay cool in a hot school than allow her to learn.
It's 2016, almost 2017 and yet there are people in the world that don't accept people for who they are. If we are going to change the world we live in, our views of people, and cultures; we need to change how we think.
