Declaration Of Sentiments
Declaration of Sentiments: Blog Response
After 156 years, you would think that the issues brought up in the Declaration of Sentiments would have been resolved by this day, but unfortunately that is not the case. Since the dawn of capitalism, developing around the same time period the Declaration was written, it has become one of the most powerful (if not THE most powerful) economic structures in the world. It is no coincidence that this structure has become increasingly dependent on the destruction of women’s self-image, self-respect, and self-worth in order to sell more products. In the Declaration of Sentiments, one of the grievances listed recounts men’s continuing dominance over women’s self- respect. It reads as follows: …show more content…
Another subtle way in which sexism exists isn’t even committed by men—women are taking part in a cycle of misogyny and hatred of the members of their own gender. Very commonly nowadays you see young girls and even grown women claim to be different from their female peers in order to seem more appealing to men. It’s a very simple self-perpetuating way for misogyny to exist without ever being perpetrated by males. With the “not-like-other-girls” mindset, women are pitted against other women, as opposed to standing in solidarity against the very institutional sexism they have been unknowingly perpetuating. Girl-on-girl hate has been sensationalized and normalize in the media via television shows (see Gossip Girl), movies (see Mean Girls), and books (see The Clique series) all of these are specifically targeted for young girls. Often the antagonists of these stories are female peers and the happy ending or “reward” is finally getting to be with which ever boy that has been lusted over for the length of the story. While they do highlight the very real issue of bullying in schools, these stories do little to nothing to promote the friendship and commonality that young girls have together. In relation to the aforementioned grievance, self-image doesn’t have to be limited to one’s personality or appearance—it can refer to one’s gender, and can lead to the dislike of members of one’s own
After 156 years, you would think that the issues brought up in the Declaration of Sentiments would have been resolved by this day, but unfortunately that is not the case. Since the dawn of capitalism, developing around the same time period the Declaration was written, it has become one of the most powerful (if not THE most powerful) economic structures in the world. It is no coincidence that this structure has become increasingly dependent on the destruction of women’s self-image, self-respect, and self-worth in order to sell more products. In the Declaration of Sentiments, one of the grievances listed recounts men’s continuing dominance over women’s self- respect. It reads as follows: …show more content…
Another subtle way in which sexism exists isn’t even committed by men—women are taking part in a cycle of misogyny and hatred of the members of their own gender. Very commonly nowadays you see young girls and even grown women claim to be different from their female peers in order to seem more appealing to men. It’s a very simple self-perpetuating way for misogyny to exist without ever being perpetrated by males. With the “not-like-other-girls” mindset, women are pitted against other women, as opposed to standing in solidarity against the very institutional sexism they have been unknowingly perpetuating. Girl-on-girl hate has been sensationalized and normalize in the media via television shows (see Gossip Girl), movies (see Mean Girls), and books (see The Clique series) all of these are specifically targeted for young girls. Often the antagonists of these stories are female peers and the happy ending or “reward” is finally getting to be with which ever boy that has been lusted over for the length of the story. While they do highlight the very real issue of bullying in schools, these stories do little to nothing to promote the friendship and commonality that young girls have together. In relation to the aforementioned grievance, self-image doesn’t have to be limited to one’s personality or appearance—it can refer to one’s gender, and can lead to the dislike of members of one’s own