Feminization of the Man's World

Out of my 18 years of life, I have never really experienced any extreme sexism, other than the occasional catcall or "mansplain". But that isn't the case for other people in the United States and other places around the world. When I traveled to Guatemala I learned a lot about the sexism and violence that women deal with everyday. UN Women puts into perspective what they go through. "Women in Guatemala represent 51.2% of the total 15.8 million, estimated in 2014"..."Only 2% of municipalities are run by women; more than 4,000 girls 10-14 years of age give birth every year, and 759 women died by violence in 2013," (UNWomen). This connects to the article we read in class about Seoul, South Korea and the extreme sexism and violence that women face everyday. One of the women interviewed for the article said "we don't have guns, but its more dangerous in the home. The notion that Korea is safe only applies to the streets." The article then goes on to say how one women is murdered by an intimate partner or ex-partner every three days.  Its interesting how similar things are occurring in these two places all the way across the world from each other and one of them is considered a third-world country and the other a developed country, and question I've had is why is this so common?
One of the things we talked about in class that really stood out to me that men are feeling less masculine because more and more women are taking the traditional positions and jobs of men. While it is still very uncommon for women to be apart of the working population in Guatemala, in the past few years it has increased and you will see more and more women working construction jobs or at banks, jobs that men would traditionally have, but can't get anymore because they are being filled by women. As this has increased so has the number of violence complaints against women. So is there a connection between the two? What if this violence is increasing or continuing to happen, with regards to Korea, because men are feeling less masculine, because more and more jobs are being taken by women? Men could see violence and sexism as a way to put women down and assert their dominance, and a way to continue the idea that men are superior.


Bibliography

Steger, Isabel. “An Epic Battle between Feminism and Deep-Seated Misogyny Is under Way in South Korea.” Quartz, 23 Oct. 2016, qz.com/801067/an-epic-battle-between-feminism-and-deep-seated-misogyny-is-under-way-in-south-korea/?utm_source=qzfb. 

“Guatemala.” UN Women , Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, lac.unwomen.org/en/donde-estamos/guatemala.