Double standards are alive and well for women

By REBEKAH DEBELL

Women have long fought for equal rights. Whether it be for the right to vote, equal pay or the ability to drive, women have been fighting for years. This past Tuesday, Americans headed to the polls with the possibility of finally shattering that final glass ceiling. But given the results of the recent election, the question popped back into my head: are women unfairly targeted?

Although women have been making tracks in their fight for equality, sexism still exists within our society, shown through double standards and the daily targeting of women. Although I feel that our society has made great strides toward equality, I do feel that women are held to different standards than men. 

Why is it that when guys go wild at a party they are just seen as having fun, but when a woman does it, she is seen as being irresponsible? Although both men and women do it, why are women expected to be more prim and proper when they want to have fun? 

As a women, I also feel like I receive less respect than men and am expected to work harder for the same outcome. For instance, I was part of a group project last year and my classmate (who also happened to be female) and I did absolutely all the work, while the two guys in the group did nothing but criticize and complain about the work that we had spent hours doing.

Now, I am not saying all men would do this and women would not, and I know that there are men who would have done their share of work or even more, but the question did come into both of our heads after the guys did not even acknowledge the project and the work that we did at all, except to criticize it. Why were we, the two women in the group, expected to do all the work while the two men just sat back and were awarded the good grade for doing nothing?

There is no better example for double standards against women than the recent election. Clinton had copious amounts of experience working in the government and still she was criticized as being unqualified, while Trump has absolutely no experience and was seen by some as being perfectly fit to run the country. And although I do believe there are many other reasons for the recent outcome, we should still asks ourselves why Trump was held to much lower expectations than Clinton when it came to work experience in the government.

There is also the stigma surrounding feminism. I have heard several men and women talk about how annoying the feminists are and how feminists are trying to make women superior to men. Why is being a feminist seen as such a bad thing when they are simply trying to accomplish the same goal as many other social groups. Why are the feminists just seen as annoying? 

Although I have seen many “Proud Feminist” buttons and heard many conversations about being a feminist, praising the goals they are trying to accomplish from both men and women, the stigma still exists.