the perception of Women through the lens of Language

The language we use defines a perception of our reality. The way women are talked about and represented in mainstream male-dominated society continues to hurt them. Throughout history, the male body is seen as the default, and terminology about female bodies throughout history has been contorted to represent women in a certain way, fueling the institution of gender roles and stereotypes. Throughout history, women’s health has been minimized and disqualified, solely focused on health in relation to reproduction, only solidifying the significance of motherhood and childbearing as the primary importance of women in this world. Terminology not only favors males but is morphed through their gaze.  Hearing one of the males we saw in class say “the crazy way young women are speaking” reminded me of the centuries of demonizing women for expressing their feelings and ideas. 

Terms like “hysteria,” a common diagnosis for women throughout the ages, encompassed almost anything deemed problematic, “including anxiety, shortness of breath, fainting, nervousness, sexual desire, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in the abdomen, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, sexually forward behavior, and a ‘tendency to cause trouble for others’.” The word translates to “wandering womb,” the idea that a woman’s womb is wandering about their body searching to get pregnant, and if it goes in the wrong direction, it can affect them, like a spirit taking over their body. The lack of care and critical thought about women's health mongerred fear and inaccurate views of these “crazy” women, supporting the demonization and apparent “wrongness”  of women who acted “differently” and outside of traditional gender roles, as well as minimizing any health issue to an issue of fertility, never addressing the root cause. While hysteria is no longer considered a valid diagnosis, women’s health continues to be under-researched.  we continue to see how women who express traits outside of patriarchal and imperialistic gender roles are demonized, as well as the commonality of doctors not trusting women’s depiction of their own health. While with the women's health movement of the '60s and beyond more exposure has become more widespread of white male dominance in the medical, it is clear the patriarchial and industrialist lens through which much research and education is done is damaging to understanding the reality of all of those among us.

We see changes in language affecting people every day. Newer generations continue to show the ability to see the world differently than previous generations, a theme we see throughout history. As american life has changed over the years, the internet has expanded our access to different perspectives and ways of thinking. The access we have to learn about and understand what is going on around us is greater than ever before, and while the government may be able to regulate the narrative they release, the ability to access information beyond this brings light to issues that may be far more important. 

Issues touted as “complicated” are ironic in today's society where we have more access to information than ever before, derailing critical investigation and education on the topic. In fact, a large factor of the lack of research on women was the claim their hormones are too complicated, too hard, and costly. However presenting information in accessible ways can help push back against this narrative, and social media provides access to people exploring specific ideas from a variety of perspectives, highlighting narratives many times underrepresented in mass media to be investigated through further research. A springboard for future interest and invectigation, this tactic of addressing news in an easier consumed in a more casual style makes information more accessible to a wider variety of people, especially younger generations.

It is clear students respond to this more personal kind of connection. A teacher showed her class a video of a woman whom some adults felt was unprofessional, specifically unauthoritative, while the students sads she sounded good and educational. While the adults tended to conflate the ideas of traditional professionalism with care and trustworthiness, regard of how they perceive someone over the substance of their intellect. The influence of American society on the way people view professionalism is damaging, a clear bias toward those who look, speak, and think a certain way, but younger generations are proving there can be a better way.