As women, we are made the scapegoats for all of society’s woes, and it has been this way since the dawn of time.
As in the bible, Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, it has always been women who are dubbed ‘problematic’, responsible for lust, temptation, seduction, and, of course, sinfulness.
The reaction far too many women receive in response to rape is evidence of this…
But what were you wearing though?,
as though it is the woman’s fault, it’s always the woman’s fault, for being the ‘temptation…
We are the casualties of a society created and controlled by powerful men. We are the casualties of the patriarchy.
In the Middle Ages, the prejudice women had held against them by men was more overtly displayed.
Women could be publically executed under accusations of being a ‘witch’ (just another word for a woman who doesn’t submit to patriarchal power).
Like the word ‘whore’, a woman who ‘transgresses norms of female sexuality’, the word ‘witch’, a woman who transgresses norms of female power, was used to shame women into socially prescribed behaviour.
This incorporated any and all women who were independent thinkers or lived in ways that might challenge the patriarchal order, and their punishment would accomplish two things:
- Eradicating the ‘threat’ (what threat?) &
- Making others afraid to follow in their unruly footsteps…
‘They stood out and did not conform with the rest of society.’
Often those accused of witchcraft displayed behaviour that was seen as ‘argumentative’ or ‘antisocial.’ This might have involved being sharp-tongued, being critical of others, or getting involved in arguments because… ‘How dare a woman have the audacity to speak up for herself!!’
Women should be submissive, not too loud, and they certainly should not attempt to stand out or influence society in some way…
Such women who would step outside of their prescribed roles would subsequently become targets, and they were often blamed for the failure of crops, etc, with their execution being an effective way to remove any power or influence they had in society via the rolling back of women’s rights (the biggest one being… Their right to life)…
Witch hunts = An opportunity to persecute the powerless.
Whilst women are no longer being burnt at the stake anymore (thank god), ‘witch hunts’ are still taking place against women who are labelled as being ‘attention-seekers’ for doing anything that poses a threat to the patriarchy…
‘YOU’RE A WITCH’, then.
‘YOU’RE AN ATTENTION-SEEKER’, now.
When a woman with a voice is deemed to be a ‘threat to the patriarchy’, to ensure that people don’t take our words seriously, we are brandished as being ‘arrogant.’
‘You’re just doing it for attention…’
Rooted in misogyny, the idea that self-expression is ‘attention-seeking’ is often used to dismiss women by labeling them as being ‘too much’, ‘you’re showing off’, for going against societal standards of beauty…
Wear a short dress or you’ll come across as frigid,
(but not too short, or people will think you’re a slut)…
Be confident or you’ll be walked all over,
(but not too confident, or men will be intimidated by you because they won’t be able to walk all over you)…
Womanhood: It’s full of contradictions, the expectation being that everything that we do is for other people (notably, men).
‘You shouldn’t put a bumper sticker on a Bentley’, they say about my tattoos…
‘You shouldn’t remove the gag from the bigot’, I say about their abuse…
Telling women that they shouldn’t get tattoos, for example, because they’re ‘offputting’ to some men, a ‘turn-off’, is like me saying, as a lesbian, ‘Get rid of all men- they’re offputting’ to me…
Men don’t exist for me, just like women don’t exist for men.
Our bodies are not objects- we do not exist to satiate the male gaze.
If you post about your successes, you’re ‘showing off.’ If you post about your struggles, you’re ‘attention-seeking.’
A woman who refuses to submit to patriarchal ideals, who demands to be seen, will always be deemed ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’ by people who feel threatened by the power of her voice.
And unfortunately, it’s not just men either, but women too. Women who have bought into the rhetoric that women are ‘to be seen (if they must), not heard’ otherwise, ‘you’re just doing it for attention…’
‘Attention’ being something that the patriarchy has determined that men give (men ‘pay us’ attention), and women take (women are ‘attention seekers’).
We can’t win…
The expectation is always there that we’re doing it for someone, or something, else but, here’s a thought, what if we’re doing it for ourselves?
Radical, I know!!
When attention is freedom, attention is POWER.
Upon commanding attention, we command power, and that’s why men fear it. That’s why men fear us.
A ‘threat to the patriarchy’, men find it easier to call us ‘witches’, ‘whores’, and ‘attention-seekers’ than admit the power that we hold…
Too much of a threat.
Portfolio of Hope 