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From the beginning of time, women have had issues throughout their lives. Although most of the historical issues have been eliminated over time, there are still women facing issues today, in the 21st century.

 

A lot of women’s issues are a result of a backwards mentality. That’s why older people are against feminism, and that’s why most of these issues are related to people brought up by patriarchal parents or someone close to them.

 

But luckily, the feminism movement is as strong as it ever was, with millions of people fighting to prevent historical issues from happening again.

Patriarchal Society

Patriarchy is the cultural, political, and economic system whereby men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. Patriarchy has been the norm throughout most of recorded history. In simpler words, it means that women are inferior to men in every aspect.

 

Even today, many cultures see patriarchy as the only way to live, and even if you live somewhere where patriarchy isn’t such a big part of the culture, there will be people who are firm believers that men are and should be superior compared to women. This belief has caused many historical issues for women and is still a big problem women are facing.

Discrimination

In most developed countries, laws and policies exist to prevent women from being unfairly targeted by employers based on their gender. However, despite these efforts, women do still experience discrimination at work. For example, some studies suggest that men are more likely to be hired for positions than equally qualified women with identical resumes. Other studies find that female leaders are often perceived as less competent than male leaders with identical experience.

 

When it comes to women facing issues in the 21st century, discrimination holds, by far, the first place in the entire world. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop at employment issues. Workplace harassment is another problem. Actually, it’s increasingly common among workers at all levels and jobs across fields. Widespread cultural stereotypes may also play a role in how others perceive women’s abilities and expertise. Thankfully, many feminist activists are fighting against these women’s issues.

Resilience

The most significant development over the last few decades has been a widening of what is considered normal. In earlier times, less attention was paid to mental illness or depression because society had little understanding of them and what caused them. 

 

The general view that prevailed was that if you were suffering, it was your fault. And even now there is still stigma surrounding women who have suffered from mental illness but have overcome it with effort and proper treatment. 

 

Society still sees women with depression as being weak and inferior to those who suffer from other forms of physical illness like cancer or arthritis. It has not helped that women are still seen by many men as an object for sexual pleasure and glorification rather than respect for their mental state when facing such adversity.

 

Resiliene is one of the most underestimated women’s issues out there, and the fact that there’s so much stigma attached to it, it can lead to very serious issues.

Women Are Treated as Sex Object

In the past, women were often objectified for their appearance. In the early 20th century, for example, advertisers frequently depicted them as being purely sexual and seductive. This resulted in women being seen as something outside the realm of humanity. They were sex objects that didn’t have much to offer beyond their looks. 

 

Objectification and sexism of today often lead to feelings of anxiety, low self-esteem, and body shame in women. And when that happens consistently over time it can have very negative effects on health. 

 

Different social media have an effect on this issue, mostly because younger women aren’t shy to show their bodies to the general public. Seeing positive comments boosts their self-esteem but increases the number of people seeing them purely as sex objects.

Rape

The first thing that women should know about rape is that it isn’t their fault. Even if you have been drinking or dressed provocatively, there is no way you are responsible for someone else’s actions.

 

No one has any right to take advantage of someone else in such an emotional and violent way. The more we talk about it and open up on how important it is, the more it will become one of the women’s issues we don’t have to worry about as much.

 

Parents also need to make sure that their children understand what constitutes sexual consent. It means agreeing (verbally or otherwise) to participate in sexual activity with another person.

 

Although feminism doesn’t talk about rape as much, it’s still something that’s happening worldwide and needs to be treated as seriously as possible.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic violence occurs between individuals of the same home, and it includes family members, boyfriends, and husbands. It doesn’t have to be physical to be considered abuse. Even if one partner doesn’t hit the other, just abusing them emotionally is enough to inflict some serious mental damage.

 

On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States alone. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million victims. Those numbers can be related to how frequently domestic abuse happens today because it is common among many families.

 

What’s even more frightening is that these are just the statistics from those who admitted to being abused by their household members. There are certainly at least as many women out there that still haven’t told anyone about their issue.

Body Standards

Body standards aren’t one of the historical issues that presented themselves in a new skin. This feminist issue became a direct result of the frequent use of social media and the internet. 

 

With thousands of years of art to draw from, we can see that for most of history, women’s bodies have been viewed as no more than sexual objects. 

 

Nowadays, we know that thinness doesn’t correlate with increased desirability or higher self-esteem so it may not be surprising that researchers find thinness ideals contributing little to overall well-being once individuals reach an average level of weight and body mass index (BMI).