Symbols Of Women Essay, Research Paper

Symbols of Women

There are many symbols placed on women in today’s society. These symbols act as stereotypes that usually degrade women on a daily basis. However, many of these symbols are just a term, and have no meaning behind them. An example of this is the reference of women being referred to as “dogs.”

There is no comparison to the looks of a woman to that of a dog. Although some women maybe less attractive than others, there is no way that a female can look like a household pet, but the term is still used quite often. Usually you can hear such slang in an everyday conversation between two or more people who will refer to an unattractive girl walking down the road or in a mall. Besides the fact that this comment makes no sense or have no value, it is mere humor to those who have said it. This type of derogatory comment has no place in common culture, but I have no doubt that women will always be referred to as “dogs” or “bitches” as long as immature people have any say in the matter.

Another bad symbol of women is female athletes. Every time you turn on your television you see a new type of professional women’s sport such as basketball or golf. Many times these females get stereotyped as lesbians or homosexual. Then another slang term will be tossed around such as “dyke” or anything else that the view feels necessary. Although I’m sure as in any situation there are people who chose to live an alternative lifestyle, but you can find that in any profession. Just because a female participates in an athletic activity does not mean they are homosexual. I do ask the question, “How does participating in an athletic activity constitute being gay.” It just doesn’t make sense how such a stereotype is placed so easy.

I have no idea why these two examples of stereotypes are laced on women. I can honestly say that there is no moral value behind these symbols and they do not belong in today’s society. On the other hand, I am not trying to convince you that all symbols of women are false, cause I do feel that some women deserve to be a symbol. I am sure there are a lot of them out there that are true. I just strongly believe that many of them are not, and hope most people who stereotype see this in reality.