No. It’s actually not. Our culture is infected and obsessed with sexual objectification (thanks to patriarchy).
Hence, womens body’s are constantly deemed as being inappropriate when dressed or presented in a certain manner (something that is apparently open to personal interpretation). Men are taught that they’re entitled to our bodies, on many different levels, and women are shamed and blamed when they’re attacked/sexually harrassed.
A little something to provoke thought and help make those who don’t bother to question patriarichal societies expectations of men and women start to analytically think about the cultural doctrines they’re constantly exposed to:
Tribal women from the Amazon River Basin in South America often bath and swim in order to cool off from the extreme heat of the tropical rainforest. In addition, the meticulous personal hygiene of tribal women and girls helps them maintain their health in a harsh environment. Note the use of gourds as water containers indicating that these indigenous women are still living traditionally and not contaminated by the influence of western goods and culture. Tribal women are not modest or ashamed of their bodies as are many westerners. At one time, virtually all the tribal women of the entire Amazon River Basin wore no clothes.
From the (admitedly limited) amount of information I have been exposed to surrounding such tribes around the world, the one thing that always stuck out to me was the fact that women didn’t have to cover up. In fact it was bizzare to everyone in most of the tribes that anyone should have to cover up their chest/breasts/torso in the name of modesty, as they didn’t deem these areas as being immodest in the first place.
I’ll leave you with this rather funny yet enlightening antidote.
The other day, this discussion arised between my mum and I. She was claiming that men have different hormones to us and therefore women are responsible for covering up parts that they may, god forbid, find attractive (that still doesn’t justify objecting women anyway).
I reminded her that tribal women don’t have to do this and the men certainly do not objectify the women when they walk around freely and topless when it’s hot.
Her answer?
“They’re not exposed to or influenced by the media the same way men here are!”
Not only did she totally contradict what she originally said by admitting this, she hit the nail on the head. (She quickly realised her argument was flawed and resorted to trying to end the argument. Typical).
The moral of the post is, QUESTION EVERYTHING.
Refusing to be ignorant is the only thing that’s going to change things for the better.
Stop contributing to sexist attitudes just because it’s deemed normal to view women as sexual objects and therefore immodest in western societies.
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