During a recent conversation with one of my friends, I revealed my post-graduation plans to her. I told her how I planned on moving to Iran and establishing a life there for a couple of years until I figured out what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. I knew she would be upset so I had planned for the sentimental conversation we were going to have about how much we were going to miss each other and lose out on making memories. What I got instead was a raging bitch. Confused, I figured maybe she misunderstood what I had said so I broke it down again- “I’m moving to Iran because I’m bored of living here.” This line, I thought, would be the line that would launch a river of tears. Again, raging bitch.
“I can’t believe you would move to a country that oppresses women so much. I mean, why would you ever want to put yourself in that situation when you’re so free here?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and by laugh I mean press my lips against one another to control how angered I was about her ignorant comment. I thought about what she said. A lot. And I realized a lot of people think like her. They think Iran is this oppressed country where women live as second class citizens and function as servants to their male counterparts. The truth of the matter is yes- Iran isn’t exactly the best location for a woman being that they still have a long way to go before women are able to achieve equality, but what baffles me is that people think women are not oppressed in the U.S.
There’s a famous saying that goes something along the lines of “I’ll believe it when I see it.” We often rely on our eyes to tell us the truth about situations rather than engaging in critical thought. We believe that the women of Iran are oppressed because their government, functioning under Islamic Law, tells them to cover up, and we think the women in the U.S. are free because we refrain from imposing such ludicrous laws upon our women. Are we as millennials so ignorant that we see oppression and freedom through a lens that focuses on how much cloth is covering our body?
Here’s the truth they don’t tell you women of America, you are just as oppressed as the women you laugh and sneer at who are forced to cover up. When they are told to cover up, you are told to take off. You are told to find value in how much cleavage you expose or how tight your dress is. You are told from a young age that “sex sells” and to somehow magically be able to find a happy medium between looking sexy and professional; a balance between attaining femininity with a touch of masculinity. You are constantly being fed images of beautiful women whose bodies are photoshopped and positioned in ways that would appeal to the male gaze; images that although are unattainable you internalize and seek to achieve. You read your popular western magazines that tell you ‘you are modern, you are running the world’ while all at the same time they succumb you, your body, your mind to serve men. By reading articles on “25 sex moves he secretly wishes you’d try,” you become the very woman, the servant, that you belittle.
I’m sorry but from what I’ve gathered it’s a lot harder to be a woman in a country where you’re free than in one where you’re oppressed.
It’s time to stop pointing the finger at the ‘other’ and it’s time to wake up and realize there is oppression within our own society; oppression that seeps through our magazines and media and teaches us that our worth is dependent on our ability to please our male counterparts.
“I can’t believe you would move to a country that oppresses women so much. I mean, why would you ever want to put yourself in that situation when you’re so free here?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and by laugh I mean press my lips against one another to control how angered I was about her ignorant comment. I thought about what she said. A lot. And I realized a lot of people think like her. They think Iran is this oppressed country where women live as second class citizens and function as servants to their male counterparts. The truth of the matter is yes- Iran isn’t exactly the best location for a woman being that they still have a long way to go before women are able to achieve equality, but what baffles me is that people think women are not oppressed in the U.S.
There’s a famous saying that goes something along the lines of “I’ll believe it when I see it.” We often rely on our eyes to tell us the truth about situations rather than engaging in critical thought. We believe that the women of Iran are oppressed because their government, functioning under Islamic Law, tells them to cover up, and we think the women in the U.S. are free because we refrain from imposing such ludicrous laws upon our women. Are we as millennials so ignorant that we see oppression and freedom through a lens that focuses on how much cloth is covering our body?
Here’s the truth they don’t tell you women of America, you are just as oppressed as the women you laugh and sneer at who are forced to cover up. When they are told to cover up, you are told to take off. You are told to find value in how much cleavage you expose or how tight your dress is. You are told from a young age that “sex sells” and to somehow magically be able to find a happy medium between looking sexy and professional; a balance between attaining femininity with a touch of masculinity. You are constantly being fed images of beautiful women whose bodies are photoshopped and positioned in ways that would appeal to the male gaze; images that although are unattainable you internalize and seek to achieve. You read your popular western magazines that tell you ‘you are modern, you are running the world’ while all at the same time they succumb you, your body, your mind to serve men. By reading articles on “25 sex moves he secretly wishes you’d try,” you become the very woman, the servant, that you belittle.
I’m sorry but from what I’ve gathered it’s a lot harder to be a woman in a country where you’re free than in one where you’re oppressed.
It’s time to stop pointing the finger at the ‘other’ and it’s time to wake up and realize there is oppression within our own society; oppression that seeps through our magazines and media and teaches us that our worth is dependent on our ability to please our male counterparts.