Let’s talk double-standard. People are actively ridiculing teenage girls for going crazy over all things Taylor Swift. One man posted a TikTok stating that he thought dropping lethal gas over one of her concerts would be a great idea. Though many of these comments are framed as jokes, they aren’t being made nearly as frequently about men and their fandom. Men are allowed and even encouraged to be super fans of sports like football, have season passes, dress up, and enjoy team-themed parties for the games, but as soon as a Taylor Swift fan does the same thing with her concerts, it’s crazy and obsessed.
Women and girls often have their interests and hobbies looked down upon or not taken seriously just based on the fact that women are more likely to enjoy it, this trend follows types of music or artists, toys, games, and even jobs. When more women enter a career field, it is then looked down upon. An example is how teaching was once a primarily male driven career, but as more women entered the field, the job is now viewed less valued than it was before, even lowering the pay over the years for teacher’s substantially.
This is seen even with products, girl’s toys are more expensive than a boy’s might be even though they cost the same amount to make. Girl’s toys also often force a role unto them, caregiver, mother, jobs that are not taken as seriously or seen as “real” jobs. On the contrary, boys often have toys that are seen as powerful or assertive; firemen, cops, superheroes. This doesn’t just happen with toys, women’s razors cost nine percent more than men’s even though they are the same. This also happens with hair products, clothes, medicine, shaving cream, and basically any other product, this phenomenon is called the “Pink Tax”.
Women’s interests are ignored at the least and at most they are ridiculed for liking something that is perceived as inherently feminine. Girls are almost never made fun of for liking more male centered interests, though they are almost always seen as fake fans or just doing it for a man’s attention. These are all effects of the deeply rooted sexism in society, women today are still not allowed to be on the same level as a man, not afforded the same liberties, and are not taken seriously in all aspects of their lives. To change this type of thinking and discrimination, we have to shift the paradigm and the expectations of how women should be or how they should act.
