Objectification in a man’s world.

It’s a man’s world. We hear this all the time, we even believe it. I probably hear it at least twice a day since I’m a law student, and law is considered a man’s thing.

Today I witnessed one of the most hurtful things I’ve ever seen. I work as a freelancer for a magazine, and today I went to a meeting with the editor and chief. The editor is a woman; a powerful, strong, intelligent and independent woman. She is someone I really admire, I wanted to be like her when I grew up. She’s always talking about the struggles of being a woman editor in a man’s world; she knows how hard it is to gain credibility and respect as a woman who is in charge. But today she told a girl who works with us that if she wanted to succeed she should probably wear shorter dresses and tighter pants in order to get the attention from the best and most important authors. This broke my heart. I had the best impression of her and now it’s been shattered. How could she say something like this? How could this advice come from a woman who has battled everything to get to where she is?

It really hurts when a man objectifies you, but it’s even more hurtful when another woman does. Women are supposed to help each other since we all overcome the same struggles. Women are not supposed to drag you down like that. Where’s the respect? How are men ever gonna value us when we don’t even value each other? As women we are supposed to help each other, build each other, support each other, not destroy each other.

If you ask me, I would never say I’m a feminist, I just believe in equality and fair treatment. I believe we are all equals, but we will never be treated as equals when we can’t even respect each other. Today my heart was broken and I feel sorry for every women who has received this kind of advice. You should always acknowledge your worth and ignore anyone who tries to put you down. Maybe this is a man’s world after all, and it will continue to be if we don’t even respect each other.