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Before you proceed reading this uninformed piece of work I think I must clarify
that I am but an adolescent who knows little to nothing of life whose only wish
is to pompously express my opinion in a voice of condescending arrogance. So
as I confidently clack away on my keyboard keep in mind that my judgements
may be skewed. Proceeding forth, I think we are at the stage where women are
no longer viewed as slaves but as followers. Today one can see that although
we have significantly progressed and caused change between the barriers
between male and female there is still much to be done. First allow me to
define the term feminism to my satisfaction so you, dear reader, know what Im
working with. It is somewhat disappointing to find that in the 21st century the
word holds a certain stigma to it. Feminism is the support of equality between
men and women in the social, political and cultural fields.

Never mind the fact that women have been suppressed in the past because
that cannot be changed and chewing over the inequalities and mistreatments
will not get any of us anywhere. A reason woman are viewed as the inferior and
weaker sex is their inability to let it go. Have I gone a step too far maybe?
Women tend to be more delicate and sensitive to criticism about their inferiority
which in my opinion just proves the point society has been forcing feeding us.
Instead of saying were under rated and oppressed and victimizing ourselves
we should prove our worth and value. Its unfair, yes. Have men ever had to
prove themselves or go out of their ways to make society accept them? Not
particularly. But acting is far more effective than complaining. We can change

the future. Daily our opportunities as women are growing; we should seize them
and progress. Perhaps Im biased because I come from a background where I
have not witnessed female oppression and where I have been given equal
chances as males (At least as far as Im aware) and therefore I can argue that in
certain cases we women overlook how privileged we are in regards to women in
other countries. However, it is unrealistic to compare ourselves because
different women have different realities. One can understand Sigmund Freud
when he said he did not know what it was that women wanted. Presently,
women and hijabs are a controversial topic. Women protest against hijabs
claiming it represents oppression. Women protest for hijabs saying it is their
right to wear it and that it accentuates their personalities and whatnot. So
which is it? How does one satisfy the immensely complex and intricate being
that is the female?

But I mustnt consider only the abuse of women for in todays worldand
yesterdays and tomorrowsthings will always be unjust. Whilst we angrily and
righteously wave our fists at the patriarchy we overlook that men also have a
set of unrealistic expectations that they are required to meet. We have been
assigned gender roles from the day our parents found out we were being
formed. Little Marys favourite colour shall be pink. I will take her to ballet
classes. I will teach John to play football and to change tires. Well, what if little
Mary wants nothing more than to become a plumber? And little John would
rather be with the company of dolls or spools of thread and needles sewing

pantaloons? To that we must wag our fingers and sternly tell John and Mary that
that is not how things work. It is true that women face discrimination far more
often than men do. But for a change lets focus on the male sexwhat are the
things that are expected from them? Apart from being driven by pleasure, being
the rational sex, sustaining a family and such? To find out and attain reliable
information from a firsthand source I minimized this tab and quickly messaged
a male friend. None of what I found out was particularly shocking but
nevertheless I think it must be pointed out. Males are seen as the opposite of
females. Theyre expected to not feel, to not cry, to not rely on emotion, why?
Because that is a weakness and another thing a male must be is strong both
mentally and physically. Never mind that you like sitting and reading you must
also like sports as well and engage in the sweaty business. After some
deliberation and cycling through my trains of thoughts I came to what some
must have thought of as an obvious conclusion. Stereotypes must originate
from some place and often times there is much truth in them. Females are
typically the more emotional, dramatic sex that bring out the compassionate,
softer side of males (usually and hopefully). Males are the stronger, leading
characters who protect the weaker damsels in distress. However, how often
does one meet a strong, female leader who would rather engage in rugby than
in a tea party? How often does one sit across from a sensitive man who enjoys
fine silks? And when one does meet one of these rare specimens it is a cause of
surprise. Males that take on the signature characteristics of a female are just as
unusual as females who take on masculine tasks.

So what is the root of this constant toil we must face daily both directly and
indirectly? Upon laborious research involving many clicks and dead ends, I was
able to extricate some information from the greatest source of knowledge,
Google. Some doctor argued that men have high testosterone levels (meaning
higher aggression) and thus are impelled to assert their power over women. A
great feminist writerwho also happens to be the one who has inspired me to
write this papertheorized that men act the way they do because it makes
them feel superior, women are their looking glass where men can see
themselves as double their size, towering over the weak. Inversely, women look
to men who seem strong enough to protect them, someone who can keep it
together when they cant, a fortress to protect them. So which one was correct?
The answer is relative. While I blankly stared at my computer screen trying to
make sense of this dilemma a plausible explanation was slowly molded into my
mind. Evolutionarily speaking, a species main objective is to procreate and
survive. Protection and nurturing, the reciprocity of these between the sexes
kept them alive. Darwin would be proud of me. Currently, these clearly defined
gender roles are no longer as necessarywe are coming to realize that there is
more in common between the sexes than different, yet as the overused proverb
says, Old habits die hard. I have faith in humanity (at least in this aspect) that
we will be able to continue stepping forward and shaping a world where at least
the base genders can get along and live in uncertain harmony. And with this
debatable conclusion I sighed in half-satisfaction, saved the Word Document
and sent it out for the world to see.