Social pressure is a severe problem that has deep roots both in Canadian society and the world. Very different people suffer from social pressure, and now it is hard to say who has never been a victim of bullying or accusations. Usually, people become victims of society not because of their actions but for things that they cannot control. These include origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and characteristics of an appearance.
I consider this topic very important since sexism has a severe impact on women’s mental health. Violent bullying, ignoring, and personal life discussions can cause depression and suicidal tendencies. Women are often forced to feel shame about their bodies, appearance, personal life, and past experiences. The elimination of sexism, in my opinion, will be an excellent achievement for Canadian society as a whole and will teach people empathy and understanding.
Society has done a great job of destroying sexist attitudes. The position of women has improved, especially concerning those topics that are actively covered in the media. Women can hold influential positions in politics and the economy, which was not considered acceptable for them from the beginning. Modern sexism is becoming a transparent problem of statements, exorbitantly high demands on women and their bodies, and still does not leave family relationships.
Examining
Oppressive “ism” behavior is behavior directed from one social group to another, which is used to demonstrate superiority. People guided by such behavioral patterns have a negative attitude towards certain social groups and actively express their emotions through their behavior. Often, victims of such severe pressure develop fears, social panic, and various mental disorders associated with both aggression (desire to avenge insults or unexpressed emotions in response) and depression (shame, guilt for one’s existence, suicide).
The Five Types of Oppression
The five types of oppression include exploitation, marginalization, cultural imperialism, powerlessness, and cruelty. All this can be reflected in gender norms and stereotypes concerning women. In modern Canadian society, women’s labor is often exploited in two ways: at home and directly in the workplace. Household duties are considered by many men’s and sometimes women’s parents as something everyone should do a priori. As a result, a woman does not receive remuneration for her work since people do not consider this a heavy burden. Women are often exploited through low wages compared to men in the workplace (Kingston, 2019). Women become marginalized by men on social media by creating humorous content and making fun of certain behaviors. The community often generalizes particular situations and throws them at women. It is how the sexist statements ‘female logic,’ ‘female look,’ and ‘female position’ are born; these statements imply losing opinions, the least well-reasoned.
Women are often powerless and cannot be the bearers of punishment. Society ignores it if a woman tries to show force in violence or harassment. They are forced to prove their case and describe the traumatic incident in detail. As before, women rarely act in roles on which many people or circumstances depend. If a woman holds a managerial appointment, there are necessarily containment structures that prevent her from making decisions independently. Nonetheless, this is fair, and it should be so in all organizational systems, no matter whether it is an economic or political context. Women seem to be interested in not getting as much power and strength as possible.
The so-called ‘male’ culture and its values weigh heavily on many women. These are the values of purposefulness, productivity, wealth, strength, and restraint. Emotionality, the thirst for communication and conversation, is usually presented as a marginalized culture, a relic, or an inherently wrong pattern of behavior. Women are often victims of direct, physical, and verbal violence. They are often bullied on social media and forced to tolerate public discussions (overt, demonstrative) about their behavior, appearance, aspirations, and opinions expressed. Domestic violence against women is becoming a sensitive issue in many countries, including Canada. Many people try to avoid this topic and, having met this problem face to face, pretend that they do not notice it and do not want to get into other people’s relationships. Thus, they leave the victim alone with the offender and show that society does not support them. Over time, the victim develops the impression that this is a social norm, that this is not a problem, and that people around are satisfied with this state of affairs.
Addressing Current Political Platforms of the Federal Political Parties
The Conservative Party is one of the Canadian parties most likely to win many government seats. In elections, their plan is essential, as they are the ones who can shape the representative democracy in Canada in the future (Kingston, 2019). Women have never become leaders of the party, and the party members do not trust them. They, as a rule, can occupy managerial positions when the party is uncompetitive or has already clearly lost. The Liberal Party pays a lot of attention to the anti-misogynistic and feminist places. Still, along with the struggle for the rights of minorities, the plan for women’s rights and against sexism is being lost. The Liberal Party, like the Conservative Party, has an excellent chance of winning a large number of seats in Parliament.
The New Democrats appear to favor feminist values that can be served alongside socialist teachings. Equality of work, payments, and respect for women is on the agenda of this party, but they lack a modern look that refers to the problems of harassment and bullying in social networks. Their position looks instead theorized and out of touch with reality without this. The Green Party maintains a generally liberal position and tries to combine its views in the field of environmental feminism. The People’s Party has removed the issue of women’s freedom and fair treatment of women from its current plan (Kingston, 2019). They continue to stand for freedom of speech, honesty, and justice. However, their forces are now directed to protest against the current government. An analysis of the positions of modern parties, in general, shows that many of the parties could support feminist sentiments and promote a plan that protects women. However, this issue is not currently in their focus, and they do not consider it essential for debate.
Recommendations
The first and most important recommendation would be to change the image of women in the media. Women are surrounded by scandals about their appearance, clothing, plastic surgery, family, and relationships with men. This image needs to be changed towards education, first work experience, and social activities. Neither orientation nor possible gender issues should influence the formation of women’s appearances in the media, especially in federal elections (Kingston, 2019). It is necessary to make it clear to candidates that they do not need to voice the details of their personal lives so that people are sure that they are honest with them.
The second recommendation is not a proposal for implementation but a suggestion for deletion. It is necessary to avoid setting quotas in parliament and other political assemblies for women. Political changes must reflect and influence public sentiment. Percentages will not help in any way in this and will only plant in some people the seeds of doubt about the professionalism of some women. Because of this, it will be the most harmonious solution to give women a lot more opportunities to participate in the debate. Some women can become organizers and leaders in discussions, reinforcing their status and allowing other people to take them seriously.
In general, the proposals should make it clear to other people that the image of women in politics is not made more professional because women can now talk a lot about their personal lives. These proposals aim to ensure that women around themselves have a severe image that arouses respect (Kingston, 2019). The fact that women can freely declare their orientation with a microphone is essential but far from real politics that affect the lives of millions of people.
Taking Action as a Helping Professional
Specialists can help victims of domestic violence directly and provide them with all the psychological and social support. Each case of manifestation of sexism and cruelty is unique; therefore, specialists should do ‘field work’ and not engage in theorizing, which will irrevocably lead to generalization. In addition, social networks and the Internet are becoming a challenge to the new communicative reality, where some women may feel insecure, and abusers may think that they are allowed to do anything. Sanctions (at the level of accounts and bans on social networks) are needed against misogynistic commentators who use slurs and are usually not afraid of pulling back.
Conclusion
Despite public confidence that the problem of sexism has been overcome, cases of physical violence or humiliation against women do not disappear. In addition, women often face neglect at work or trying to make themselves known in politics. Canadian society must prevent sexist activities and help victims of violence cope with complex problems, instilling confidence. Social workers and professionals should directly support affected women and carry the sincere values of freedom.
References
Kingston, A. (2019). The 2019 election revealed that sexism is status quo. Macleans.Ca.