“Do Women Matter?”
Letter submitted by Rev. Trinity L. F.
To Whom It May Concern,
Are women the social, political and economic equals of men in modernity?
Physically, there are appreciable differences between the two sexes which allow us to do very different things with our bodies, in addition to many of the same things, though, not always in the same ways.
These sexed differences, often culturally exaggerated into genders (sexualized, public expressions of dominance (masculinity) and submission (femininity)), have historically been used to subvert, minimize and outright steal the social, political and economic power of women.
This history is old and current: from the institutionalization of the earliest patriarchies to the rape culture pervasive today, gender has been used to objectify, commodify and abuse women as a sex caste.
While the myth of equity abounds, the mathematical truths remain:
the average male is often more physically adept at short-term, high-impact exertion;
on average, women are paid less than men (by both male and female employers) for the same work, in addition to often being both required to perform gender at work and denied the opportunity to do work that is socially, politically or economically valued;
women are more likely than men to be prostituted (though, as children, the sexes face more equitable chances of being trafficked and/or exploited);
more men murder women than women murder men.
If women were socially real, let alone politically equitable people, the economic structure would be different.
If half of the population is dismissible as either desirable or undesirable commodities, with a sell-by date, as the economic impacts of porn/rape culture increasingly render women politically and socially, then no, we obviously do not matter in modern culture.
It would be some proof that we did matter if crimes against women were treated as seriously as economic crimes are, when committed by plebeians.
Unfortunately, crimes against women are often not even understood to be crimes, unless the woman in question is valuable to patricians.
The token women showcased as proof of successful integration and equity cannot speak for women, or men, who occupy an entirely different financial landscape than they do.
Despite hard-won, legal achievements regarding equal opportunity and sexual harassment, many women are unable to seek justice because they do not have access to recourse for myriad reasons, including, but not limited to: lack of education, classism, racism and physical impairment.
Certainly, I think women matter, but for that to translate into socioeconomic power, women have to be able to fully participate, as citizens; we must be free to avail ourselves of public life without having to negotiate the dangerously hostile environment we now do.
Sincerely,
Rev. Trinity L. F.