How do gender stereotypes influence growing up?
On April 4, 2023, in Peru, a 25-year-old woman was sexually abused, got her leg amputated as a result, and died two weeks later. Two weeks before that in Peru, an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and then two 16-centimeter nails were driven into her skull. Last March, the ex-boyfriend of an 18-year-old girl burned her with gasoline. Unfortunately, the list of crimes against women continues in my country, Peru. Even though women have raised their voices with the “Me too” movement, and the strikes for the rights of women, still Peru is a country where violence against women has become the norm every single day.
Growing up, I lived in a bubble where being a girl meant all the attention from my family, playing with dolls, dressing pretty, and being able to wear makeup. I grew up with the idea that being a girl was the best, but my bubble eventually burst and I found the reality that my gender represented. I started to notice the differences as I grew up. I couldn’t sit with my legs open because that is not how a girl sits, I could not play with my male cousins because girls can not be aggressive, and could not play with cars because girls only play with dolls. As I became a teenager, the news every day informed me about a woman being killed, sexually abused, and all kinds of violence. I always hear ‘Why was she out there that late?’ ‘Why was she wearing those kinds of clothes?’ But just a few ask ‘Why did he kill her?’ The increased danger for women in my country meant my limitations had to change. I was not allowed to walk out at night alone while my male friends could. I could not wear short clothes because I would provoke men. Even though everybody in my life tried to protect me, it did not work. In 2017 when I was 16, I was on the bus going to study like every day and someone touched me without my consent. That day my bubble broke, and I realized no matter what women do to prevent, the abuse against us still happens.
Machismo and patriarchism still play a role in Peruvian society. We live in a society that imposes its rules on how a woman should behave. Although we are in the 21st century, and women have shown that we are more than what is imposed on us, those rules still weigh on us, from home to the place where we work. Unfortunately, many children grew up with these retrograde ideas, and women are still considered inferior to men. According to the Peruvian Ministry for Women, in 2022 there were 27,362 cases of sexual violence, 137 femicides, and 111 attempted femicides. However, there is still hope since Peruvian women have raised their voices and are still fighting for their rights and recognition. All of us as a society should compromise to change the concepts and ideas we have of gender stereotypes. Hopefully, as the song “Caminar Sola” by Julieta Venega says: Me quiero quedar aqui bailando porque puedo y no tengo miedo de caminar sola. One day future generations will live in a world where women can walk alone at night anywhere in the world.
References:
https://apnews.com/article/e571a538a4bc1639d048232670627284
https://apnews.com/article/4b6fc91caf46a6942d09dc79f2944b9c