All The Things Silenced Women Are Expected To Stay Quiet About
There have been so many successes for women starting with the right to vote to now being in higher paid jobs and equal pay (well almost). Gender stereotypes and roles are now beginning to shift for the better and women are finally getting the proper education they deserve which comes with a lot of benefits in itself. This is all well and good, however there are still things we hide from men and even worse from silenced women because society has deemed them “shameful”. But we shouldn’t!
(This article might make you feel uncomfortable but that just reinforces my point even more.)
1. Periods are as normal as breathing
For some reason people think periods are some strange unnatural things we shouldn’t talk about, something that women should keep to themselves. But if you think about it, periods are as normal as breathing, they’re the only reason we can procreate and without them we wouldn’t even exist, it’s a basic female function.
Blogger, silenced women and feminist Grace Victory post a picture of her period blood on her Instagram and lost A LOT of followers, and many people post hate comments calling it “disgusting”. This is one of the things we’re expected to stay quiet about but shouldn’t because it’s natural. But it’s sad how we live in a world where women cannot even receive free pads or tampons, some girls who cannot even afford them are being denied basic human needs.
2. Body hair isn’t just something men have
You’ll probably think I’m joking when I say that some men refuse to acknowledge women actually grow body hair, but it’s true. The sad thing is even women think it’s unnatural and do all sorts to get rid of it, now don’t get me wrong if you choose to get rid of it then that’s fine because even I do, that’s not the problem. The problem is that we have this idea that we have to take it off because it is expected of us, that it’s disgusting and shameful, but we should take it off or leave it on because we choose to do it for ourselves.
The very beautiful model Sophia Hadjipanteli is a great example of this, she has not let society tell her how to be beautiful even though she gets so many hate comments telling her to do her brows, instead she is the founder of the #unibrowmovement.
3. Imperfections in general aren’t spoken about enough
Sure a few people are coming out about their imperfections like stretchmarks or cellulite but that’s not enough. No one is perfect, not even the movie star goddesses or angelic models are perfect and it’s about time we start speaking up about it rather than staying quiet by silenced women.
Can you guess how much is spent on cosmetic surgery a year? $16 billion was spent in 2016 and that’s just in America! So don’t ever think that people are so perfect because they spend a ridiculous amount of money trying to convince other people and themselves that they are. Maybe instead of spending that much on trying to look pretty they should just accept who they are and give that money where it’s actually needed like Cancer research or people eating scraps from bins. Even Marilyn Monroe, the icon of beauty, believed that imperfections are beautiful, I wish we could go back to simpler times when Photoshop and Facetune weren’t such a big deal.
4. Perfection isn’t one size fits all
Another thing we often stay quiet about is our body weight and how people expect us to be as slim as Victoria Secrets models instead of embracing who we are. There are body positive people over size 14 who are proud of it but there are so many of us who aren’t. The biggest problem with being a different size to what is expected is the mental damage that comes along with it and this is what needs to be talked about more.
It’s not enough to just have a rail or two at the back of a store called “plus size”, the idea that women have to be a size 8 with big boobs and a nice ass has to be challenged. No one ever talks about how it’s ruining young girls crying in their rooms because they’re starving themselves trying to be perfect, the sad thing is that most models are doing the same all because it’s good for business.
And don’t tell me “that’s what plus size model are for” because we’re going two steps forward and one step back. These “plus size” models are beautiful but they don’t have the roles or stretchmarks most plus size people have, this is further emphasises my point about imperfections not being spoken about by silenced women.
5. But worst of all, we often don’t speak up about the injustice of sexism
Women are just about speaking up about equal pay and sexual harassment but the idea that men are superior to women has been engraved into our society that it’s so hard to think otherwise. You might believe women are equal to men but the truth is in how we act and what we say, saying things like “women are bad drivers”, “women aren’t as strong as men” or “women shouldn’t work” is something that is surprisingly normal but shouldn’t be. We don’t come forward enough about how women are being treated, sexism has become the norm and it’s about time we change that.
What do you think silenced women are expected to stay quiet about? Tell us in the comments below.
Featured Image: Weheartit
