Silencing Women

The double-standards for men and women is an issue often discussed, but rarely so in the realm of semantics.  One double-standard particularly hits home time and again: when a man is opinionated, talks too much and demands the respect he deserves, he is seen as “confident”, whilst a woman who behaves in the same manner is deemed to be “attention-seeking”.  It’s a typecast entrenched deep in the human mind.  It’s a social tool for getting women to shut up and keep quiet, but it is also evidence that what she was saying has made an impact, that she has more power than she realises.  It’s a slur that should be a source of pride. 

Yet we are told that we have no power, we can make no impact on the world.  And this is done so through people’s choice of words, intentional or not.  But it works, and this should not be the case.

Slut.  Bitch.  Whore.  Slag.  Cunt.  Attention-seeking.  Hormonal.  Spinster.  Tramp.  Tart.  Old maid.  Blonde.  Bimbo.  Damaged goods.  The list could go on.

Whether the use of these words is to infantilise, informalise or demote, sexist terms against women seek solely to silence and demean them.  However, there appears to be no, or at least very few, male equivalents for any of these phrases.  Women and men who portray the same behaviours and similar qualities are frequently labelled in different ways.

Of course these labels can be applied to men too, but they are used to highlight men’s inabilities or inadequacy as a male in view of their socially constructed masculinity.  Often they are used in a jokingly sparing way.  But when used against women, the words have a more malicious tone and meaning. 

A defence which is often used by males who refer to females in derogatory terms is to question why women shouldn't be held accountable for their actions.  After all, if they can’t take being called a slut, then they shouldn't act like one, right?  Wrong.  

Men are held up on a pedestal when they have slept with more women than their peers, but women who behave in the same way are dirty and seen to be scum.  This is one of the more common double standards in society today.  Men are allowed to engage with their sexuality, but women are not.  Being a slut is not a problem men encounter.  It is one solely (so it seems) to be experienced by women.  Slut-shaming pertains to female sexuality and it represents society’s far too often misogynistic views of womenfolk.  It assumes that women’s sex and sexuality are fundamentally bad things.  This is the result of patriarchal control.  Girls are more likely to be controlled because people often use verbalised sexual labels to control girls, such as slag.  Hence they may steer clear of deviant behaviour and avoid these labels, rather than expressing and / or pursuing their sexual desires.  Laurie Penny expresses this idea well, and instead encourages women to challenge the meaning of being a slut: “Being a slut doesn't have to mean fucking around, or fucking at all.  It just means refusing to see desire as dirty.  It means abandoning the pursuit of patriarchal approval as far as you can.  Taking away its power to cut you down and shut you up”. 

This double-standard is continual in everyday life.  Terms are thrown around with no thought about the consequences, but the result is the silencing of women.  To stop them expressing themselves verbally or physically.  Because what they are saying or doing is potentially threatening to the patriarchal system, it could dismantle society as we know it.  It could question the entire state of politics and the role of women in society.  Therefore, muting women must be the solution.  This must be why more and more women today are standing up and making a space for themselves in society in order that they may challenge the sexist attitudes that have been allowed to prevail and silence for so long.  It’s about accepting who we are, and denying the belief that we may be of a lower status. 

Gender roles are not set in stone.  They are socially constructed, and this therefore means that they are capable of being deconstructed and remoulded so that the role we take on works in accordance with our identity.  And nobody has the right to take this away from us.  Nobody has the right to silence us.  As more women realise the value of their voice and actions, the more they will realise that they have power.  They have the power to write their future.  They have the power to discard the labels that others unsuccessfully attempt to apply to them.  They have the power to stand up and be who they want to be.

Our voices and access to information shall not be limited.  Our political statements are just as worthy of being heard and respected as those of white middle class heterosexual males.  Our actions will not be held on a different level to those of men.  Women have power and we will no longer be censored, silenced and marginalised.