This course lately has fueled my anger at how society chooses to look at men and woman and then relate this to how much they are making. In one area that woman have started to stand out in a male dominant field in my opinion is in martial arts and fighting. As someone who was the only teenage girl in a class of teenage guys and dads it pushed me twice as hard. My master pushed me just as hard to gave me just as many tips as anyone else. In an article featuring a female MMA fighter the comment was made, " I just think right now we had a hard enough time getting over the stigma of the men [fighting]"
I am not saying that fighting is the perfect career choice but woman should hold just as big of position as as men do. One possitive that i read in the article was from a female fight named Tara LaRosa, LaRosa comments at the end of the article referring to how much she gets paid for fighting, "LaRosa's skills have certainly been opening eyes. She won't disclose her exact purses, but says she'll make between $15,000-$25,000 per fight.. and that's definite progress, for males and females alike." This redefines both what it means to go against gender specified jobs as well as making way for a change. Girls were built tough, they give birth don't they. I couldn't really picture a man going through hours upon hours of pain. Also having female fighters strays people's view into the idea that girls only belong in tight outfits holding up the cards before every fight. I think all of this is what pushed me to start doing martial arts, I am proving to myself that i can defend myself and stand tall beside a guy. I thrived in an the environment that i could be competitive with a guy and hold my ground. I was told that i look really sweet and harmless when you first meet me( others said they couldn't picture me being a good fighter) but when i have my uniform on and going through drills my eyes are focused and i turn into a powerful warrior. So girls, no career is too masculine, if you find something that makes you happy then do it because chances are you hold up just as well as a man even if you don't get the same recognition( its what you feel about yourself, not how other people judge you). I have been told it not right to be a fighter and that i am going to get hurt or attacked walking around thinking i can take on a man but i say that the person yelling this at me is stupid because your putting me in this box of i have to be weak and that i need a man to protect me. I protect me thank you very much, I am not going to walk around my town looking stupid with a bodyguard because i am a woman. Thanks but no thanks, Ill just stick to kicking butt and watching my own back. Woman are changing what society expects from them every time a woman takes another step outside the gender box. Woman before us have fought for things such as the right to vote, so we need to pass on the fight to get equal recognition and pay. Show our children that they can have their dreams come true not matter what it is.
Resource: http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=3158474
Don't know why the quotes are whited out, if you highlight them the text will appear
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. This reminded me of a scene from the animated movie “Atlantis” where all of the characters are discussing what they did before they signed up for this adventure and one of the women talks about how her dad always wanted two boys—“one to be a professional boxer and the other to take over the mechanics shop, but instead he got me and my sister.”
ReplyDelete“Oh. Where’s your sister?”
“She’s going ten for ten in the championships. After this adventure, I’m going back to working with my Papi in the shop.” I think if girls continue to have role models like this, the sky’s the limit.
Strength is so much more than what is on the outside. They do put us in our gender role boxes and it is incredibly frustrating. Some of us have our strength on the inside and some on the outside. Sometimes it is even both. Unfortunately, it is not until recently that women were even allowed to show their outer strength. Even now it is shunned by some. Then some of us get those wonderful parents that tell us we can be anything. That is so awesome, but what happens when every type of media has lookism involved. They tell us we are what we look like. It is so frustrating and there needs to be role models who are willing to speak out and tell us we can be anything. If I see another extremely skinny model in an ad meant to be for a sporty girl I will scream. We all don't look like that. Muscles aren't bad. Anyways, very much agreed.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Belcher