Our Bodies…
We never take into consideration how much stress one puts on their physical body. The “body” is often taken for granted, hence we constantly overlook the amazing, unique qualities it has to offer. The body has evolved through numerous of generations to become what it is now. The body is our shelter, our armor, our survival kit, our identity, our way to make a living, our temple, our presence, our statement, our EVERYTHING. Our body is our very essence to life and it hold our value in society.
Everything in our everyday lives has a value of importance. America’s society views other countries by what what they can offer or how they can benefit the capitalistic country. Unfortunately, humans beings also seem to fall into this category. We may view ourselves as complex beings but society views us with a certain amount of value. A potentiality of what we can contribute to others, the community, society, capitalism, etc.
So, the burning question is what value do you hold, or what value does your body have? Who is viewed as most valuable in our communities ?
Science justifies discrimination between the sexes and places a value among each person. A value that dehumanizes them while converting them into commodities. The bodies of men and females reflect the problematic,dichotomous categories society has imposed on people. Within those problematic categories are subcategories that branch out into race, age, class, background, ascetics, etc. Regardless of the categories, men are commonly referred to as the superior being among the rest. Men represent power, while women are represented as simple, weak and hold the ability to procreate for men.
Women have a long, oppressive history of being living trophies, commodities, accessories, servants, submissive, grown children, procreating machines, etc. Women’s purpose in life is to compliment, serve, love, and create more men. Their value is of less importance to society whether it be financial, political, economical, educational, societal, etc.
“…the body is trained, shaped, cultivated, and invested…” -Judith Butler
Men’s importance of value has always been stated and implied while women have fought endlessly for their human rights. Women continue to fight for gender/sex equality, in this over-civilized world that continues to follow stereotypical roles.
Women’s value varies among the differences between females. Young, virgin, rich, Caucasian females are viewed as the valuable and desirable. We are fed this image through everyday exposure in media, ads, movies, magazines, internet, literature, objects and the list goes on. People are not only fed this image but impose silent rules on all women that dictate how to look, behave, act, sound, dress, and what goals they should have.
Women who do not follow the norms that culture presents are almost exiled and allow for others to judge upon them with negativity. If a female acts, looks, dresses in any masculine manners seems as if they are stripped from the value and are seen as abnormal, deviant, and possible useless. Society holds no room for a spectrum of variety in its binary, colorless world.
Males have been typically seen as the most valuables in society due to their strong physique, creativeness, independence and their mission to better mankind. Women, on the other hand, were typically viewed as dainty, fragile, vulnerable beings, dependent on men for survival. Women’s unique ability of child-bearing is . For centuries, our bodies have mainly been divided between male and female.
“To what extent is “sex” a constrained production, a forcible effect, one which sets the limits to what will qualify as a body by regulating the terms by which bodies are and are not sustained?” -Judith Butler
Biological discrimination in the binary gender system has distance male and females from one another. The gender system can no longer contain simply two categories of male and female in the evolving realm of the 21st century. The different genders and bodies demand for the old value system to shed its discriminatory foundation and embrace a universal system of equality for all.
All bodies and sexes should be of equal value in society. Limitations on either holds only negative consequences for humanity. We must adapt to evolution and adjust cultural beliefs to embrace the needed change. The binary world we live in is nothing but a false representation of the Natural world. There is no wrong, no right, no perfect body, no inferiority, no superiority, no one that holds more values than others. The imaginary ideology is oppressive to all and the imaginary shackles that binds our souls from evolving only exists in our mind if we allow it. Embrace all bodies and hold no examples to represent humanity.
For further reading :
Judith Butler Bodies that Matter: http://eng5010.pbworks.com/f/ButlerBodiesThatMatterEx.pdf
#GenderEquality #Humanity #Bodies
