Marium Syed

I think Emma Watsons speech is an iconic one and will definitely be

remembered for years to come. Personally, I do think men and
women should be treated equally. No gender is superior over the
other and thats that. However, I understand that feminism is a
taboo topic in many countries around the world.

I believe feminism to be the equal treatment of both genders. I dont

think that men and women are equal, because they arent. A man
isn't physically equal to a woman but that does not mean that a
woman should be treated any less than a man. I know we can beat
gender stereotypes and succeed.

In my opinion the word feminism itself is stigmatised which results in

it being difficult to even talk about. Therefore, I feel that feminism
should be referred to equality because that is what it is at the end of
the day. I understand that in society women are subjected to more
inequality than men but in my opinion I believe that campaigning for
feminism can isolate men who would be willing to fight for equal
rights for all genders. This is simply due to the stigmatisation of the
word itself. Sometimes being a feminist brings with it a lot of hate
and as Emma Watson said herself, feminism has become
synonymous with man hating. Hence I think that campaigning for
equality would appeal to a bigger audience.

Emma Watson spoke about her gender-based assumptions

throughout her life which I thought were really relatable. I think
gender assumptions are imbedded in society. I think it is difficult to
go against assumptions that have been in society for such a long
time. I know weve probably all said the phrase be a man without
thinking about it. I think a lot of gender-based assumptions are
innocent and done without meaning harm but fortunately things are
changing and stereotypical gender roles are being somewhat
abolished.

We had to answer the question of whether or not brothers and

sisters are treated equally. I have one brother and I can fairly say
that we are not treated equally and I don't think it is possible for
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siblings to be treated exactly 50/50. My parents were brought up in

Pakistan, where a part of society still thinks that women
stereotypically, belong in the kitchen. So because of that, I don't
really blame my mom for not teaching my brother how to cook and
giving me dolls as toys. However, I think that inevitably womens
roles are changing because they have to. In many households both
parents have no choice but to work because of the high cost of living
and this is defeating the gender assumptions as well as the
stereotypes.
I admire the fact that Emma Watson spoke about the effects of
gender stereotypes on men. The face that the role of the father is
much less valued in society and is ignoring the fact a father is a
crucial role in the development of a child. I think one of the main
things is that inequality of the sexes is having adverse effects on
both men and women. Men are suffering with mental disorders and
they feel that talking about their problems is going to make less of a
man. In the society that I live in men were never seen as emotional
and in need of someone to talk to. Men are tough and men dont cry.
That mentality is effecting young boys who struggle with problems
everyone struggles with but they feel that they can't talk about it.
The shocking reality is that suicide is the biggest killer of men
between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine. That says it all. It
shows how much more awareness is needed in that aspect of gender
stereotyping.

We discussed photo shopping in the module which links to a

repetitive circle of sexism in advertising. I think photo shopping is a
very dangerous tool that is causing many of the eating disorders
among teens. Unrealistic expectation is set into the minds of the
public. Young boys are expecting women to look as they do on
advertisements. I think that is lying about how you look and if you
agree with lying that you agree with photo shopping. I understand
that what Im saying is extremely controversial but if you think of the
eating disorders that exist because of photo shopped models, youd
start to understand where Im coming from.
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We very briefly talked about socialism in the module. I agree with

some ideas of socialism but I think that it can cause problems further
down the line. The idea that everyone gets paid the same in my
opinion is not fair. For example, a medical consultant has to go
through so much training and experience to fully qualify as a
consultant. I dont think it is fair that a consultant gets paid the
same as the secretary working in the same hospital. More hard work
and energy is required to be a doctor. I understand that the money
left over would go towards education and health but I don't think its
fair to penalise people who work hard to keep us healthy.

To conclude, I think that as a society we are heading in the right

direction in terms of gender equality but we still have a long, long
way to go.