A collaboration with the Westfield High School Journalism Program
Do Women Really Ruin Everything?
How did our world become so pink and blue? The stereotypical things that are mainly enjoyed by women like Taylor Swift, the Barbie movie, boy bands, and even the color pink are “basic” and demonized, yet things that are mainly enjoyed by men like sports, rap music, video games, and cars are seen as cool in the public eye. Things that are associated with femininity also get associated with being “cringe,” like caring about how they look or wearing makeup. An article by tastecooking.com discussed how once rosé started to be branded towards women, companies like Brosé were created so that men could enjoy it without being associated with something “girly,” saying “we assume that because [women] like something other women like, they don’t have minds of their own.”
A common phrase that is used to pit women against each other is “You are not like other girls.” For years, memes have praised women who like to eat pizza, dress casually, and not wear any makeup. Women who do not fall into the category of being a “girly girl” can be seen as cooler and someone who can “hang with the guys.” They only give these women credit or positive reinforcement when they distance themselves from the rest of their gender. In a poem by Lyra Wren, she writes, “Don’t you dare put me on a pedestal while damning my gender. I am just like other girls. So cast me with the wretched creatures you call a woman.”
An easy way to insult a man has always been to compare him to a woman. Saying a man “throws like a girl” or even if they are too emotional with their guy friends. The long history of chick-flicks and rom-coms being beloved by women has also put a negative connotation on romance or friendship. When men are nice to each other they have to call it a “bromance” to keep up their strong manly appearances. Women have always been seen as “soft” and that association haunts everything they like. It is seen as weak. It becomes embarrassing. All association has to be argued against by throwing the word “bro” in front of everything they do.
So why do things have to be so gendered? Why do interests and hobbies “belong” to one gender, and why are things associated with women considered less than their male counterparts? It is part of our culture and how we speak, and it has been for years. But that does not mean that all women like the same things and all men like the same things. You are who you are. Women can hate rosé and men can hate sports. That doesn’t make them less of who they are. The more we split things into categories, the more divided we become. You can blame men for hating women and blame women for hating each other, but that doesn’t change the fact that everyone is passing the blame onto someone else. This is not a singular problem, but a general way that we view womanhood and the things it encompasses.
