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Is the Gender War Worth it?
So we finally watched The Hunger Games (the first one) recently. I think we are the only ones left on the face of the earth who hadn’t watched it yet. While it was definitely entertaining, I didn’t fully grasp why it was so incredibly popular. In my curiosity, I asked my Facebook friends and here is what they said:
- Girl power goes a long way!
- Girl power is big these days. The kids movie Brave and Frozen are kinda the same idea also.
I shared the comments with my husband in complete oblivion of the movie’s girl power message and he said, “it was totally about girl power”. Now it might sound like I live under a rock because it took me so long to see The Hunger Games, but with over 20 years in business and four decades in life, I have picked up some wisdom on how to connect with people and succeed in life.
One of the biggest killers of relationship building is having a polarizing attitude that judges a particular group of people. Instead, your success lies in your ability to connect with people from all backgrounds and perspectives—even if they differ from yours. This doesn’t mean you have to BFFs with people with different views, but you don’t have to spew hate and anger at them. You are not going to agree with everyone you interact with, but you are going to have to work with people who see things differently from you so look for the parts of them that you do like. As a Contrarian, adopting this attitude was a bit challenging, but in a world of judgment and criticism, I found loving people for who they are is really a contrarian thought process.
So what does this have to do with the gender war? Everything!
What I have witnessed in the “girl power” gender war is a movement to make men weak in an effort to make women look strong. Well that’s just plain mean…girls. Think there was a movie about that. It’s actually a form of bullying where you make another party feel weak so you can have power over them.
So after all of your girl power lobbying, how do you come home and expect your male spouse, partner or significant other to love and respect you? Then you get mad at him when he is passive because he doesn’t want to be a target of your gender rant.
Now, if you know me or have read any of my posts, you know I am all about pursuing your dreams. However, your quest for achievement should NEVER be at the expense of someone else or a group of people. Therefore, if you are facing gender road blocks, then I challenge you to find ways to overcome them without compromising your and anyone else’s integrity. Winning the wrong way is never worth it!
4 Responses
I’m not aware of anything in the movie that puts men down. Nor do I believe that men have to look weak for women to look strong. Men don’t look weak in any of Disney films you’ve mentioned that allow girls to feel empowered without a “Prince Charming.”
Celebrating women is not an automatic disparaging of men. Women haven’t been badass leads in movies for a long time, to be excited about it does not make men less than or weak. In fact, good guys should realize it’s cool and jump on board. It’s a myth that feminists hate men – no feminist I know wants to make men weak so they can be strong. These women know they are already strong and want to partner with the men in their lives. It’s about equality, egalitarianism. And if that means people are excited that there are awesome heroes for girls to look up to for the first time (instead of helpless princesses or a mermaid who would completely change who she was for a man) then I’m totally on board!
Telling a woman she’s attractive isn’t an insult to their intelligence, and men shouldn’t be vilified for saying it as ‘objectification’.
Girl power isn’t about a woman’s right to be as an equal to man, it should be about celebrating the many facets that make that woman unique and capable in her own way.
It’s personal-power.
2c
I agree, the attitude always seems to be that in order to feel better you have to make others feel bad. It goes for children, teens and adults.
The need to demean pops up. While most cry “equality” they fear to admit weaknesses forgetting we all have them.