Woman to Man: What the Hell is the Big Idea?

Global Influences of Perception Regarding Women

By Erica Morris

    In the 1990s, the village of Umoja was founded by Rebecca Lolosoli, as a refugee camp for Kenya’s oppressed women. Umoja became the first and only village in the Samburu region that prohibited male inhabitants. Presently, the Samburu women believe that living among men allows men to mutually design rules that force women to maintain subordinate roles in society. The Samburu women also believe that as men lead dominant roles within society, women are forced further into subjugation.

Image I: Rebecca Lolosoli

       In 2003, this notion was supported by an American study entitled, Development of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory. Interestingly, similar to the beliefs of Samburu women, the research demonstrated that conformity to masculine norms confirmed a positive correlation between social dominance and oppression of women. The objective of the study was to differentiate purely masculine norms from societal expectations. The sample population was composed primarily of college aged Caucasian males who revealed that exposure to mass media encouraged men to marginalize women and designate powerful roles in society to aggressive men.

In the discussion, researchers revealed that the sample selection for the study was intentionally biased in order to retrieve results that were reflective of the dominant culture's perception of masculinity. (Mahalik, Locke, Ludlow, Diemer, Scott, & Freitas, 2003). These perceptions, according interpersonal communications expert, Professor Julia Wood, perpetuates perceptions of impracticable and limiting social roles for women. Wood suggests that images of women portrayed in the media emphasize traditional roles and normalize male violence and aggression. Julia declares that women risk violence, death, or rape whether they do or do not fulfill appropriate gender roles as defined for them by the media and society (Wood, 1994).

Image II: Julia Wood

     Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the global influences of perceptions regarding women. This article will use testimonials derived from the newly popularized documentaries: The Land of No Men: Inside Kenya’s Women Only Village, I am a Girl, and Vessel to explore what may occur when women fail to appropriate gender roles. Perceptions will be identified by analyzing recurring themes found in 3 peer reviewed articles discussing gender norms, media influence, and intersectionality.

    The theory of intersectionality can be applied to demonstrate the influence that perception has on female identity. Intersectionality, as described by civil rights activist Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, recognizes that a complete social identity is derived from the collective factors of our individual identities such as race, history, and socioeconomic status. These collective factors in conjunction with gender determine how an individual interfaces with society and social norms. Therefore a situation may be perceived as oppressive to one woman, but a privilege to another woman (Samuels, Ross, 2008).

     During the sixties and seventies the intersectionality theory materialized from a form of linear communication. The perception of social limitations was a recurrent discussion in writings of Black American women during the time. These writings revealed that gender was not a definite unifying and collective category within society. These writings also revealed that perception was influenced by an array of factors and ultimately not all women experience feminism in same way. Additionally, intersectionality revealed that women also possess the ability to oppress and enslave other women (Samuels, Ross, 2008).Therefore for the purposes of this article, oppression is distinctly defined as any maltreatment that causes physical harm, mental distress, or actions to control a woman’s autonomy. Social perception is defined as a collective intuitive conscious and sub consciousness used for reasoning with regard to feminist matters (Samuels, Ross, 2008).

         As previously mentioned in terms of oppression, a situation may be perceived as oppressive to one woman but a privilege to another. This concept is the driving force behind the documentary Vessel. The documentary Vessel was debuted in 2014 as an international film by Diana Whitten. Vessel records the journey of Women on Waves, a pro-choice organization whose main objective is to provide safe abortion services to women residing in countries where abortion is illegal. Controversy in the matter surrounds the perception of oppression in relation to the oppressed. In general, some women believe that abortion is a human right and that laws which forbid abortion are oppressive specifically to women alone. In contrast, some women believe that abortion is a violation of a human’s right to life, and therefore allowing women within society to carry out abortion is oppressive to the entire society.

       Throughout the documentary, Doctor Rebecca Gomperts is met with both male and female opposition. Women in opposition to Rebecca’s work believed that female rights were violated each time she provided abortion services in a country where the majority of citizens declared it a crime. In her own defense, Dr. Gomperts stated that a woman’s decision to abort a pregnancy is an individual, rather than collective decision. During the course of the film, Dr. Gomperts argues the premise that the means, resources, and responsibility to care for a child is designated to only one or two people, in many cases one, rather than the entire society (Vessel, 2014). A poignant scene occurs in the film when a woman declares that providing abortions to women in such cases defies the functionality of citizenship and womanhood. This same woman argues that this is a factor which she as a woman is justified to protect.

Image III: Rebecca Gomperts

       Currently, in the United States abortion services are legal, however the heated debate remains. Julia Wood argues that this debate is influenced by society’s perceptions of female roles within society. Julia suggests that the media is the most universal and prevailing influence on this particular perception. Julia writes, “Women are defined by their bodies and how men treat them. Their independent identities and endeavors are irrelevant to how they are represented in the media, and their abilities to resist exploitation by others are obscured.” Using confessionals retrieved from both male and female individuals Julia demonstrates the effectiveness of mass media in creating sociocultural roles for both American men and women (Wood, 1994).

       In the essay, Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender, Julia uses a form of transactional communication from an individual named Joanne to demonstrate that gendered representations in American culture designates the lives of women to care for others. Even in situations where it is against the woman’s will to do so. Joanne demonstrates this notion in one investigation saying, “My boyfriend and I agreed to split all chores equally when we moved in together. Ha! Fat chance of that. He does zilch. When I get on his case, he reminds me of what happened when the father on some show had to take over housework and practically demolished the kitchen. Then he grins and says, “Now, you wouldn’t want that, would you?” Or worse yet, he throws up Hope or one of the other women on TV, and asks me why I can’t be as sweet and supportive as she is.” Julia remarks that Joanne’s testament is reflective of gender bias by predominantly male television executives and advertisers (Wood, 1994;Mahalik, Locke, Ludlow, Diemer, Scott, & Freitas, 2003). Julia also reveals that the media portrays women as underrepresented by using a disproportionate number of men to women in commercials, films, and news broadcast.                   

Interestingly, the Centers for Disease Control discloses that women are not underrepresented and actually compose 50 percent of the total population in the United States. More specifically, there are approximately 308 million females in comparison to 157 million males in the United States. Julia reveals that this misrepresentation is attributed to the fact that women over the age of 35 are rarely portrayed in the media. According to Wood, the media depicts the ideal that women are young, beautiful, skinny, passive, incompetent, and dependent on men. This perception leads both men and women to believe that power lies in the feminine image rather than the female herself (Wood, 1994; (Mahalik, Locke, Ludlow, Diemer, Scott, & Freitas, 2003).

Image IV: I am Girl Documentary

       The 2013 documentary, I Am a Girl also supports this notion. The documentary records the lives of six young girls aged seventeen to nineteen. The documentary provides a visual representation of the lives of women residing in the countries: Australia, Cambodia, United States, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Cameroon. During the film each girl describes the challenges that being a woman poses in their lives. A particularly compelling story is told by Kimsey of Cambodia. At the age of twelve Kimsey was sex trafficked against her will in order to provide funds for her entire family. Just as the essay, Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender reveals, Kimsey relates that culturally she was viewed as inferior to the male sex. Kimsey says her gender alone was the sole reason that her family allowed her mistreatment and abuse on their behalf. During this time that she was exploited she also gave birth to a child that she now rears in the film. Kimsey discloses the challenges that she faces raising a child and dealing with her past.

        According to the article Development of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory, these circumstances arise as result of sociocultural influences, the method in which these influences are communicated and socioeconomic status. These factors influence the individual's’ decision to conform or object the gendered social norm. However, the function of nonconformity to social expectations often times incurs social repercussions. In most cases, nonconformity to masculine norms causes catastrophe, however the article reveals that conformity to masculine norms can also result in pathology. The article reveals that the influence of hyper-masculinity in the media can cause men to take risks that affect their health as well as female health. Risk factors include but are not limited to: partaking in frequent negative health and behavioral risks such as smoking, drinking excessively, fighting, and promiscuity among women. This information in conjunction with data from the Centers for Disease Control relates hyper-masculinity with high death rates among men. The CDC reveals that women outlive men by at least 5 years or more in the United States alone. (Mahalik, Locke, Ludlow, Diemer, Scott, & Freitas, 2003).

These perceptions provide the foundation and reasoning for the establishment of all female societies. According the Samburu women from the documentary The Land of No Men: Inside Kenya’s Women Only Village, living without men is less dangerous for women. Rebecca Lolosoli confirms that although men have threatened to destroy her village, she has found freedom that she has never known while living among men. She and the Samburu women believe that while initially men attempt to equally designate power, almost inevitably they lose control of their own will and exploitation ensues. Lolosoli finds that her efforts to design a safe community for women have been more successful than her efforts to change the perceptions of women by men. 

    In conclusion, first women as well as men need support, encouragement, and love in order to function efficiently in society. Second, women should seek to employ influential roles in society to insure control over male perception of women such as the perception of women in society which is perpetrated by male influence in the media.

Just as the Samburu women reveal, as long as men have control over these positions, women will always be portrayed as inferior to men. Research reveals that these perceptions not only lead to oppression and subjugation, but also health risks and death in men and women. When society realizes the shift in power from a masculine influence to a feminine influence, the world could possibly exist with less violence and aggression. Perhaps more energy will be focused on ridding the world of poverty, depression, and social injustices rather than competition, monetary gain, and sexual exploitation, as seen in modern masculine cultures today.

References

Barry, R. (Director). (n.d.). I am a girl [Video file]. Retrieved from www.imdb.com/title/tt3089442/

Mahalik, J., Locke, B., Ludlow, L., Diemer, M., Scott, R., & Freitas, G. (2003). Http://ljournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/d-2016-154.pdf. Http://www.psychwiki.com/dms/other/labgroup/Measu235sdgse5234234resWeek2/Krisztina2/Mahalik2003.pdf.

Samuels, G. M., & Ross-Sheriff, F. (2008). Identity, Oppression, and Power: Feminisms and Intersectionality Theory. Affilia,23(1), 5-9. doi:10.1177/0886109907310475

V. (Director). (n.d.). The Land of No Men: Inside Kenya's Women-Only Village [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrnmBLB-UX4

Whitten, D. (Writer). (n.d.). Vessel [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83r-vlLuGEg

Wood, J. (1994). Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender. Retrieved February, 2017.