Dear Mass Media,
I would just like to thank you, for making it so a woman can't be anything more than an object even though we're in the 21st century. For teaching the world that women are only good for sandwiches and sex. Thank you for making the whole world believe that I can't be a boss, only bossy and that it will be my fault if I am attacked by a man.
From the very beginning, you taught me I need to give up parts of me to find "Prince Charming." I need to trade my voice and tail for legs, because as Ursula said I don't need a voice to get my prince, all I need is body language. You taught people to call me princess all the time when I was a little girl, so I would idolize these teens that gave their whole lives up to marry men they had just met because they were princes. I needed to be like them, skinny, unnaturally beautiful, have flawless hair even when wet (yeah I'm calling you out Ariel) and be willing to give up my whole self for a man. Because what little girl doesn't want to be Cinderella or Ariel? Show me one little girl who doesn't want to be a mermaid at some point in their childhood, I'll bet money you won't be able to find one.
Women have been taught that the goal is to one day grow up and get married and have a family. If that is the ultimate goal why do you teach men that their goal is to be the president or a CEO of a huge company? Shouldn't they be wanting a wife and families too? Or is that too feminine for them to worry about?
We've been taught to worry about our appearances and our waistline more than we should worry about what is in our brains. Nobody wants a fat ugly girl right? The girls who do somehow love their not size zero bodies are seen as overly cocky and silly and they're shamed everywhere. Why is it bad for a woman to be crazy smart but when it comes to men it's expected of them? Why is Hilary Clinton asked more about who she's wearing rather than what she wants to do for this country if she is elected as the Democratic candidate?
When men command the attention of the room it is seen as them being "the boss" but when a woman does it we're seen as bossy. Why do women have to be submissive to men and why do you think it's ok to perpetuate that ideal? Why can't little girls want to grow up to be CEOs or Presidents? Why is there such a bad connotation with women having power? Why are our periods brought into conversation when talking about why we shouldn't have power? Sure women can get emotional during our "time of the month" but hell I'd like to see a man bleed for a week and survive, let alone go about their normal lives without it affecting them.
You created this image of women in the kitchen making sandwiches for their partners. You created this idea that women shouldn't think for themselves, that they should keep their mouths shut and be willing to serve a man however they see fit. You created a world where women are objects, where women aren't even human beings.
You outrageously photoshop us for magazines and plaster these images everywhere so women want to be like the models. You give young girls role models who say, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," and try to put anyone else who says women are more than that on the back burner so the world forgets them. You tell little girls that they aren't pretty unless their size zero, literally size nothing. You created eating disorders that the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders says kills 1 in every 5 women who suffer from them yearly. Look around you, I'm sure there is at least five women within your vicinity, say goodbye to one of them.
You created a culture where women are seen as objects, turning our bodies into kegs for commercials, using our bodies to sell fragrances and anything else you can find. But when you make us out to be objects men don't see us as anything other than things that are put on this planet to pleasure them. When they start to think this, they will do whatever they can to make sure they get want, no matter what happens to us. When we're objects it doesn't matter what happens to us. Men can hit us, rape us and kill us, and it will be our fault because we left the house in a skirt. Women will be beat on and assaulted because you made it look like it was OK, as long as we were asking for it. Because if a woman wears a skirt or anything tight she is wearing it for a man's benefit, not because she feels pretty in it.
You created a culture where teenage girls get taught that they aren't allowed to wear leggings or skirts because their knees and hips distract boys so much they can't function in a school setting. That showing a little shoulder on a hot day is so distracting for a boy that they have to miss school to go change.
And please just forget about men being the slightest bit feminine. You have made it shameful for men to be the slightest bit feminine, which means it is bad to be a woman. Men are powerful, they shouldn't be compassionate that makes them like women and that is bad. You shame them everywhere, you spread hate with words like fag, gay, homo, for men who have ideals like women are supposed to.
Why did you make all of this OK? Why did you create a world where women are objects to be owned by men? Where women can't have goals because that's what a man is supposed to do. Where women can't be bosses only bossy. And if they aren't stick-thin and spend crazy amounts of money at Sephora they'll end up alone with 300 cats?
You created this world, you use advertisements, movies and TV shows to perpetuate these ideas around the world. You can stop it at anytime, but you choose not to. Why are women everywhere objects to you? I shouldn't have to use this excuse but do you see your mothers, sisters and daughters as objects too, or just everyone not related to you? Because I'll bet a lot of money that the women in your family feel the same way as the rest of the women on this planet. Maybe you just need a generation of women to fight back and show you we are sick and tired of being seen as objects. Maybe if we could all unite and show you were are more than our waistline, you'll do something to change.
Maybe one day you'll get it.
Sincerely,
An angry woman who thinks she deserves more than the world is willing to let her have.
