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Women lead, too: Rihanna controversy sparks outdated gender role debates

from Women's History Month 2023 — Technician 03/02/23

from Women's History Month 2023 — Technician 03/02/23, page 6

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Women have been pushing their way to equality for years but never seem to break past the glass ceiling set by powerful men, outdated standards and society. While we see the norms slowly and continually changing for women, attitudes of others are stuck in the past and view women as nothing more than caregivers, making it nonetheless difficult for true progression in equality.

Ashley Linzey Staff Columnist

child have sent many people in an uproar. Traditionally, men are deemed to be breadwinners of the relationship, the provider, the protector and the guider. Women, for years and still to this day, are seen as caregivers and homemakers; people who shouldn’t take the step forward into bigger and better advancements.

A prime example of groupthink towards this idiotic attitude regarding women is the controversy over the recent British Vogue cover for the March 2023 edition. The cover displays the gorgeous and successful Rihanna in the forefront, and A$AP Rocky holding their baby boy in the background.

The viral tweet captioned with “There is a whole lot to unpack with this photo here,” sparks a debate on the gender role Rihanna should be representing and how the man should be the one leading. Comments such as “I see it too, she’s leadin and pullin him along while he’s lookin like a nurturing mother… SMH,” and “Yea, mother ASAP Rocky and father Rihanna. Look at him embracing his proud motherhood. The idea is that a strong man leads the family. But hey that’s [Hollywood] for ya,” showcase the stereotypical debate on how women should stay in their place.

Something that was meant to bring attention toward a successful artist and her growing family turned into speculation of an emasculated man and inspired toxic femininity. But the article isn’t even about A$AP Rocky, so it wouldn’t be logical to position Rihanna in the background anyways. Complaints over A$AP Rocky being behind Rihanna and having him hold their continued from page 6

“There came to be an association between saying ‘be like,’ and the valley girl persona or other kinds of people they didn’t take very seriously,” Dodsworth said. “What happens is people tend to be ready all the time to criticize the way that young females talk. Anytime there’s some new thing in language or something that people think is new, they just kind of go ahead and associate it with young females. And why that is? We don’t know. But, we think it has something to do with people’s willingness to criticize young females in general.”

Criticizing the way young women speak

Corey Cogdell-Unrein, a two-time Olympic trap shooter bronze medalist, is another example of a woman taking on a successful role but overshadowed by a dominant-male role viewpoint. After Cogdell-Unrein won her second Olympic medal in 2016, the Chicago Tribune tweeted “Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics,” with no mention of her name or past achievements. Although we don’t get a Vogue cover in this example, we still recognize the idea of putting the man in the forefront.

While gender equality has come a long way from old traditions, there will always be a push and pull every time a woman steps into success or leadership, no matter the case. We prominently see this across powerful positions, athletics, work environments — especially within the medical field — entertainment and even in educational institutions.

We ought to acknowledge women for the strengths they possess and their ability to climb the ladder higher just as men do. Both men and women are capable of being successful, as well as being loving and supportive nurturers. If anything, men should be prominent figures in their children’s lives and support their significant other just as much as women do. A$AP Rocky holding their child while his successful partner takes on the role as boss babe is evidence enough.

There is no emasculation at play here. We as a society need to see more examples of women as leaders, and also make it a norm for both genders to share all roles and to be is not unheard of at all. It’s important to acknowledge the age-old argument about who talks more: men or women. I’m sure many will recognize the redundant claim that women speak 20,000 words a day and men speak a mere 7,000. Claudia Hammond from BBC noted that this stereotype has no basis in scientific evidence. In some of the studies she referenced, where men’s and women’s communication had been analyzed, there’ve been differences, but they’ve been negligible.

However, in a study from 2020, researchers sat in college classrooms to see who talked more: men or wome.? The findings confirmed that male students talked 1.6 times more often than female students, and they often speak without raising their hands, interrupting the class and engaging acknowledged equally.

The more women continue to be a living example of what is possible by not letting outdated gender roles define their level of in more prolonged conversation than their female counterparts.

Women were also found to have a less assertive tone than men when answering questions, which leads me to consider the fact that women may feel less inclined to speak in a room where men take up more of the vocal space and ask the questions first. This is seen in work settings as well, as noted by Elizabeth Weingarten from Behavioral Scientist.

The way women, especially young women, speak and answer questions has been scrutinized without any scientific or linguistic evidence. Using the word “like” often is not something that only young women practice, and it’s certainly not something that should continue to be critiqued or seen as lesser than. In fact, achievement or dictate their ability to lead, the less prevalent gender stereotypes will be. Controversy over a woman posing in front of a man will soon be a thing of the past. this incredible change of language and multifaceted uses of “like” should be celebrated, as language is constantly evolving and linguists are studying this on a dayto-day basis.

“If we transcend popular ideology, there’s absolutely no sense in which using the word ‘like’ a lot means that you are not confident or not educated or something like that,” Dodsworth said. “It’s simply a word that has taken on many different syntactic functions.”

So, just remember that using “like” in your daily conversations is more than OK; the word has way more historical significance than others might understand. “Like” is multifaceted, and if someone criticizes your use of it, pay them no mind at all.

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Sophie

A second-year studying art and design

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