“Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge.”
-Andrea Dworkin
Chromosomes are threadlike DNA structures of nucleic acids and proteins found in the nucleus of living cells. They carry genetic information and store hereditary information. A normal human cell contains 46 chromosomes, or 23 pairs. Out of the 23 pairs, one pair, 2 chromosomes, determines the sex of an individual. A male’s sex chromosome pair is made up of an X chromosome and a Y chromosome, while a female’s sex chromosome pair consists of two X chromosomes. The only difference genetically speaking between male and female is one microscopic chromosome. How does one chromosomal difference determine the superiority of the sexes? How in fact, if male and female consist of 97.8% of the same genetics with 1 chromosomal difference are men much more prized both physically and intellectually throughout the history of mankind? How is it that Andrea Dworkin’s statement, “Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge” so true? But most significantly, why has society through the course of time rounded the edges of the earth for males as females continue to live fearful of falling off the edge? There are so many questions that have yet to be answered with a more logical explanation besides “it’s human instinct”.
This blog, no doubt is pro women’s rights. As an 18-year-old girl living in the United States at a time when women have equal rights as men, in most aspects, it is difficult to comprehend the severity of living conditions of women with no rights at all. It is mind boggling the stereotypes history has given women. To think that in early times women were considered “fragile” and unable to educated decisions. To think that women lacked having a sense of self and lived in fear of independence. To think that a woman had no other decision other than to live in the shadow of her husband. To think that the human race saw a female as nothing more than the weak link, only good enough to basically please the strong sexual desires of males.
The novels A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and The Awakening exemplify the restraints women faced on a daily basis. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Laila and Mariam are abused by Rasheed, their husband, and suppressed by the Taliban government within Afghanistan in the 1990s to the 2000s. It still continues to this day. Women’s educational rights were taken away. They weren’t permitted to wander the streets without a male figure. Women would wear drapery where only their eyes were left unconcealed in public. Women were forced into marriages. They weren’t entitled to anything. Females were and still are looked upon as fragile, and unable to make tough decisions. The typical stereotypical woman in accordance with history is one in which simply is in charge of cooking, cleaning, and nurturing. If they cannot perform these tasks in accordance to their significant other’s wishes then they are useless.
Currently, in today’s day and age women have gained rights across the world. Recently women have surpassed the amount of males who receive a collegiate Bachelor Degree. This exemplifies that the fragility women have been thought to be throughout history is nothing but ridiculous. In today’s age, although many women continue to receive more and more jobs aside from their “household obligations”, the average woman worker is paid less than a man. I think it is time for the world to see, that men aren’t the only “bread makers” and that women need to stop being misconceived as anything less than superior to a man’s mentality.
Very strong writing Rachel. Excellent work.
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