By Yuval Israel, Year 11
“MEN HAVE BROAD SHOULDERS AND NARROW HIPS, AND ACCORDINGLY THEY POSSESS INTELLIGENCE. WOMEN HAVE NARROW SHOULDERS AND BROAD HIPS. WOMEN OUGHT TO STAY AT HOME; THE WAY THEY WERE CREATED INDICATES THIS, FOR THEY HAVE BROAD HIPS AND A FUNDAMENT TO SIT UPON, KEEP HOUSE AND BEAR AND RAISE CHILDREN.” -1531
This was famously said by the monk and teacher, Martin Luther, who advocated for non-violent social change and was quite firm in his opinion that women’s hips define their place in society.
International Women’s Day, celebrated on many different dates in many different regions aims to celebrate women.
Many people disagree on the aspect of commemorating a day for women, as they argue that women do have equal rights and the opportunity to work and vote, so why should we celebrate such a “useless” day?
Well, divisions of labor and rank in society in the past have been controlled by men on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and religion.
Biologically based arguments have also been used to ‘put a woman in her place’, generally out of education, out of formal work, and preferably at home, in the kitchen. These very arguments have been long-used to justify gender-based violence and sexual harassment.
Today, many of us would laugh if someone would refuse to receive medical treatment, for example, from a female doctor due to the size of her hips… Unfortunately, in the past, one’s body and gender was either a flaw or a strength which could be used against you or for your gain.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau established a woman’s place in society by stating that God created a natural inequality in the capacity of the minds of women and men. He argued that a woman’s capacity ends at her caring and empathic traits, therefore a man’s education must be different from his wife or his sister’s as his capacity is “endless”.
However, it is important to keep in mind and consider that these men died over 200 years ago and that society has changed in many aspects. Social norms were different back then and people’s perspectives have changed over time, like the fact that women, in most places, can now work and are not limited to kitchens…
Unfortunately, not all people believe that women should have the same rights as men. In 18 nations today, women are not given the right to work without their husband’s permission. This brings up the question: “are those nations justified in doing this?”
Different cultures have different social norms that we may not necessarily understand from our perspective and given our own experiences, however we cannot force our culture and expectations onto others.
Nothing proves that women lack the intellectual capacity of men. So why should we think twice before giving both sexes the same opportunities?
