A WOMAN IS NOT A “THING”

Nov 01, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I really do not get it. I really cannot understand the flippancy with which this modern generation speaks and treats with women and sex. A man sees or hears about a beautiful woman and decides that he has to “knack her down”.
Now I think I know what is meant when a man says he wants to “knack a woman”. And I do not believe that it has anything to do with battery or assault. It has to do with having sex.
To think that a man can see a woman and just decide that he would like to have sex with her is disgusting. Sex is not something that should be treated like this. It should be very special, very intimate and done out of some deep affection, love and respect amongst the partners. But how can sex be special when there is attitude of gross disrespect towards women?
Domestic violence is a serious social problem in Guyana. There are many persons and organizations who are deeply and genuinely concerned about the frequent reports of domestic abuse which at times ends tragically.
There have been attempts to address this malady but none has got to the root of the problem. Some politicians have tried to exploit this problem by claiming that at the root of this problem is unemployment and poverty. But that is politicking.
Two attitudes are the root causes of domestic violence against women. (I am aware that men too are victims of domestic abuse but today I am concerned about domestic violence against women).
At the root of the abuse of women by men is firstly a power disequilibrium, and secondly, the commodification of women.
A man has power and wealth and therefore he feels that this provides the license to lord over women. The woman is his prey and he can simply decide that he wants to be intimate with her without even knowing her. If the power disequilibrium were reversed this would not be happening. If instead of men having more power, it was the other way around, then things would be different.
As such one of the key strategies of dealing with this problem of domestic violence is to reverse the disequilibrium in power relations between men and women. This can start by those with power and influence setting a better example.
Most of the female victims of domestic violence are powerless against their victims. It is the greater power of one over the other than leads to the aggression and violence. And therefore redressing this imbalance will redress the powerlessness of the victims of domestic violence.
But power is not just about wealth, status and influence. Power over others can also be had through the use of language. Michael Foucault expounded on the link between power and knowledge and between power and language. Knowledge and language are not neutral categories in terms of power. In fact, they are part of the concretion of power.
Any attempts therefore to redress the disequilibrium in power relations between men and women cannot exclude language. It is important that when it comes to women, the use of language does not contribute to their further disempowerment.
It is important that emphasis be placed on ensuring that language does not demean women or treat them as objects. No woman should be reoffered to as a “thing”. A woman is not a thing. A woman has a mind and soul. The objectification of women is oppressive and must be rooted out. Again our leaders must set an example about how they describe, refer and relate to women through the use of language because language is power.
Finally, I want to say that men are not all at fault in the way they treat women. Many women have become willing parties in their own subjugation. One of the ways in which women are subjugated is by them being treated as commodities. Unfortunately many women actually cooperate in their own subjugation by the image they project of themselves and of other women.
The mass media encourages this commodification of women. You look at many of the music videos of male musical artistes and you would be horrified at the image they project of women. Many of these music videos project women as being only good for attending to the whims of men, of dressing skimpily and showing off their bodies and bling.
Change must begin by our leaders adopting a more respectful attitude towards woman, beginning with the way we use language to refer to women.

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A WOMAN IS NOT A “THING”

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