How the World Perceives Women 1

How the World Perceives Women

Juliette Eady (0300231598)

Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa

CRM 2307: Women and Gendered Violence

Professor Kharoll-Ann Souffrant

Monday, November 28th, 2022

Article Title: Regulatory discourses and representation: How women are “known”

Author: Bruckert and Law

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Introduction

As the songwriter, Taylor Swift says, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, I wonder if

I’d get there faster if I was a man” (Taylor Swift) this line of her song promotes what women

think about on a day-to-day basis. Women are portrayed as weak, emotional, and difficult to get

along with. They are receiving gender-based violence when they try to do something previously

associated with men. Women are known for being dramatic and immature. Who says these

things about women? Men. When women try to enter a male-dominated field men feel

threatened which is seen on social media, in workforces, and within politics. These injustices are

amplified when talking about women who belong to a minority group which includes the

LGBTQ+ community and other racialized groups. During this look into how women are known;

topics such as sexual assault, the female body/mind, and women in social media will also be

disclosed. Using recent events which involve an influential female leader the way women are

known is made apparent. This woman of power is subject to misogyny from men and those who

do not agree with her position of power.

In all aspects of life, women are considered less than men in some way which leads to

violence and assaults. These outbursts by men are ways to gain control over the female body and

mind. In times when women are rising and gaining power, men feel attacked and must do what

they can to make sure the male specimen remains “superior”. Studying the political, social, and

economical aspects of how women are known is crucial to understanding the appreciation and

safety the average female has.

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Current Event

When someone goes on a social media platform it is almost guaranteed they will come

across a hypersexualized female. Recently an injustice occurred where a political leader was

hypersexualized simply for being a woman. There are two examples with Hillary Clinton which

come to mind when thinking about sexism within politics. The first is the “Iron my shirt”

incident which occurred during a 2008 New Hampshire rally when she was running for

president. Using a YouTube source Mofamfour which posted the incident, Hillary was talking

about change within communities when the heckler began. It started with one man, a sign, and a

loud voice. He was then joined by many more men who were chanting “Iron my Shirt” as a way

to promote misogyny. Women belong in the house doing wifely duties such as ironing, right?

Wrong. Hillary quickly snapped back at this remark by saying “The remnants of sexism, alive

and well” (Mofamfor 2008). She acknowledges these men and does not let them hold power over

her, and instead gets roaring applause from her feminist audience.

The second event which included Mrs. Clinton, Megan Kamerick explains in a Ted Talk

involved a newspaper sexualizing her. Kamerick shows a photo of Hillary with Barack Obama

and his advisors tracking the killing of Osama bin Laden. She says “You can see Hillary Clinton on

the right. Let's see how the photo ran in an Orthodox Jewish newspaper based in Brooklyn. Hillary's

completely gone.” (Kamerick) This newspaper removed Hillary Clinton, a professionally dressed feminist

political leader for what reason? Upon uprising from people within Hillary’s following the paper came out

with a statement saying, “it never runs photos of women; they might be sexually provocative” (Kamerick)

This means that not only was Hillary removed but obviously many other women have been because their

gender suggests they are provocative or too sexy for a professional paper. Men fear women with power,

specifically, politically relevant women and they feel the need to heckle or shame them.
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Women in Politics

Following the contemporary events of Hillary Clinton, it is important to understand why

this violence and hate occurs. Mona Kook the author of Violence Against Women in Politics says

that it is a ‘man's job’ and women often get sabotaged to keep this job primarily masculine

(Kook). People, mostly men, brush off these injustices as ‘politics as usual’. When men sabotage

women in power it is considered strategic and intelligent, however, if women did the same to a

man it would be calculated and emotionally driven. In addition to harassment, these politicians

are also subject to “online bullying, ridicule, and rape or murder threats from often-anonymous

sources” (Krook). A workplace should be a safe place for women regardless of if she is in a

position of power. Kook believes that women exposing and condemning these harassers will help

people understand that people should not reinforce male dominance and help women thrive in a

professional setting (Kook). There are many forms of harassment for political women (as seen in

the current event section). This, however, is only one small aspect of how women are known and

are perceived by not only men but other women.

Violence against women

Women are significantly more likely to be targeted for sexual assault and other forms of

violence. Female minorities experience this significantly more than the average white female.

Bruckert and Law emphasize in the textbook “Women and gendered violence in Canada: An

intersectional approach” that, "one way women are known is as victims—of physical violence, of

sexual violence, of men" (Bruckert 65) meaning that these men and perpetrators believe women

to be theirs to batter and bruise. Authors Raj and Silverman, creators of Violence Against

Immigrant Women: The Roles of Culture, Context, and Legal Immigrant Status on Intimate

Partner Violence explain that women are known as being weak and easy targets. They say that

violence is especially prevalent with Latina, South Asian, and Korean immigrants which shows

that 30% to 50% of these women have been sexually or physically victimized by a male partner
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(Raj, Silverman). There is not only violence from strangers, but the majority is from a husband

or other partner. These husbands of immigrant women know that they will not reach out to help

as in many cultures violence within the family is to not be brought outside the family walls.

These men know their wives or partners are battered and exhausted/weak and they take

advantage of that. These women are known as easy targets by men they are in relations with and

strangers. Just like how women in politics who are in positions of power endure discrimination

from men so do immigrants and common women. This proves that men see all women as lesser

regardless of social standing, women are known as weak.

Women in Media

Women in social media are known to be, in summary, overly sexualized. "Images of

gender norms are inescapable; we are bombarded with representations of how women should

look and how they should act—on television, in magazines, in movies" (Bruckert 71). In the

article “When sex doesn't sell to men: mortality salience, disgust and the appeal of products and

advertisements featuring sexualized women” written by Lee et al, they say “Men typically hold

favourable views of advertisements featuring female sexuality” (Lee et al). This means that

women are more likely to buy or take part in an activity when the advertisement includes

sexualized women. These authors believe that all men oversexualize women in the media.

Women are seen as animalistic asking for sex appeal and men to fawn over them. Even in

advertisements where women are not meant to be sexualized, they are by groups of the public.

Kemerick says, “And I know you're all distracted, so I'll take that off. Eyes up here!” (Kamerick)

Can you guess what kind of ad this she was referring to? You would probably assume the one

with an overly sexualized female. This ad, however, is for breast tissue engineering which is a

medical company. Women are known as sexual beings regardless of what the ad or media

coverage is for. In movies where women are strong, smart, and empowered superheroes are still

hypersexualized and sport completely inappropriate attire and, unlike male heroes (or indeed any

known fighting style), often conquer the villain using the between-the-legs-takedown (Bruckert).
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The male community sees women being portrayed as intelligent beings as a win for the female

community then continues to dress them for the sexual male gaze. Women are known in the film

community as heroines needing to be rescued by a strong man while wearing clothing that does

not appeal to anyone but the male audience. As seen with Hillary Clinton and a fully covered

politician, was too sexual for this media outlet so was the breast tissue engineering ad. People see

women as Lee et al say as animals and directors or photographers use this to their advantage to

advertise to the male audience.

Conclusion

Women are known to be weak and emotional. They are known to be unfit leaders and

sexual beings who are too provocative to be shown in newspapers and media. As Hillary Clinton

experienced, there is still abuse and mistreatment from the male community even to women in

immense power. Because women are not classically known to be powerful leaders people fear

them and call them emotional and calculated. These political women are known to face ridicule

and even murder threats, but they do not stand down. Women in a minority group are more likely

to face violence and abuse from not only strangers but people they are in relationships with.

These women are known to not go to authorities and fight their abuser back. These are scared

women who have recently immigrated or are subject to forms of racism. women’s bodies, social

interactions, sexual practices, careers, and hobbies are evaluated according to robust myths,

traditional roles, and sexual and gender scripts (Bruckert). This shapes not only how women are

perceived and represented but how they view themselves. These have become norms within

society because they are pushed by men and others to be the truth. Women are known to be good

like Madonna, bad like a “whore”, pathological or hysterical, and the victim.
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Bibliography

• Bruckert, C., & Law, T. (2018). Regulatory discourses and representation: How Women

are “Known”. In Women and gendered violence in Canada: An intersectional approach.

essay, University of Toronto Press.

• Films Media Group. (2012). TedTalks: Megan Kamerick—women should represent

women in media. Films On Demand.

https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=99232&xtid=52998.

• Futterman, L. A., & Jones, J. E. (2000). PMS, Perimenopause, and You : A Guide to the

Emotional, Mental, and Physical Patterns of a Woman’s Life: Vol. 2nd ed. NTC

Contemporary.

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• Willows, Erika, and Valerie M. Steeves. Social Media and Sexual Assault : The Impact of

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University of Ottawa, 2018.

https://ruor-uottawa

ca.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/38613/1/Willows_Erika_2018_Thesis.pdf
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• Lee, S. M., Heflick, N. A., Park, J. W., Kim, H., Koo, J., & Chun, S. (2017). When sex

doesn't sell to men: mortality salience, disgust and the appeal of products and

advertisements featuring sexualized women. Motivation and Emotion, 41(4), 478-491.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-017-9615-9

• Krook, M. L. (2017). VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN POLITICS. Journal of

Democracy, 28(1), 74-88. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2017.0007

• Raj, & Silverman, J. (2002). Violence Against Immigrant Women: The Roles of Culture,

Context, and Legal Immigrant Status on Intimate Partner Violence. Violence Against

Women, 8(3), 367–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778010222183107

• mofamfour. (2008, January 7). Hillary heckled "Iron my shirt". YouTube. Retrieved

November 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsocCWiLh3s