NEW ORLEANS (Nov. 10, 2016) – The scandalous talk – and alleged actions – of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reinvigorated the national discussion about how women can be talked to or about and how they should be treated.
During the 1920s, women succeeded in earning the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment, yet today women still get paid less than men for doing the same job. Women apparently are still considered in some circles to be inferior and beneath men.
Trump and his supporters dismiss his being caught using vulgar terms to describe women letting him kiss, grope and have sex with them because he is a star as mere “locker room talk.” Trump is heard on the tape telling entertainment reporter Billy Bush, saying, “Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything.”
Trump and other rich and famous people are not above the law, and they should not be exempt from being put back in their lane when they cross the line with what they say and do. Women already are under a lot of pressure to be 10 times as good as men to be accepted in the workplace and shouldn’t be subjected to other’s judgments. Women are already judging themselves because they feel inadequate in comparison to what magazines and society calls beautiful.
Megan Reed, a junior mass communication major, said, “The woman is in charge of a woman’s body. Then again magazines and society have a huge role on a woman’s image because of certain magazine where they make the ideal woman skinny and white. A lot of women have self-esteem issues because of this.”
The time has come for all males to understand that sexual assault and sexual harassment are simply no longer acceptable and that no woman is waiting or asking for their touch by the clothes they wear, the words they say or by their actions.
Tia Harris, a junior psychology major from New Orleans, said, “Girls and women are always being cat-called and judged by the way they look. If they are showing off too much cleavage, [people think] they are begging for attention and are seen as a tramp, while if they are not showing anything, they could be seen as ugly. There is no way to win.”
Ladies who feel more confident with a lot of makeup and with tighter clothes are called out for seeking male attention, and women who are more comfortable in sweats are judged as lazy or homebodies.
In defense of males, Eliott Cleveland, a junior criminal justice major from Houston, said men are judged, too.
“Men are also judged on their looks by a woman. The ladies are not looking for the fat dude that stays home and plays video games; they are looking for a good-looking guy. So if they can judge us, why can’t we judge them?”
We are taught in civics class that your freedom ends where mine begins in a democracy. People should be free to live their lives and to make their own choices. Woman should feel free to wear any type of clothing without fearing a man will make them uncomfortable or another woman will judge her. A woman should be free to wear as much makeup as she wants, be free to date as many people as she wants, and to overall live her life any way she chooses.
The editorial staff agrees women should be free of scrutiny and judgment for the way they chose to dress, act or look. Women are equal to men in every way, and men should treat them as such. Ladies should supportive of each other instead of tearing each other down. United, women can this archaic mindset among today’s men.
(Editor-in-Chief Jamia Collins wrote this editorial on behalf of the Courtbouillon staff.)
