According to a study carried out in 2015, heating and cooling systems used in most spaces today, especially office spaces were developed taking the average male body into consideration. No wonder we’re always wrapped in jackets & scarves at work.
According to a more recent study carried out by MIT, most studies of autism usually select small numbers of female subjects or exclude them altogether, which is part of the reason why the disorder is harder to detect in women. Similarly, there are many studies that indicate capitalism and patriarchy are heavily interlinked. In a way that renders women underpaid, under-recognised and often used as tools to further these systems.
Now, why did I kick-start this conversation with a reference to such heavy studies? Well, because these studies are proof that we’re living in a world that operates with a metric that caters to men more than women.
More specifically, the standards are most often set by and for the comfort of cishet men. Naturally, this affects how women exist in society. Many women are conditioned to understand success, specifically, financial success, through the lens of the men around us, and above all, through what the patriarchy has taught us. Kim Kardashian winning the title of one of GQ’s ‘Men of the Year,’ 2023 seems like an interesting example of how this has played out.
However, let me be clear, I understand the wittiness in placing Kardashian in a ranking list created for men. I get that this is more about empowering her and appreciating the empire she has created than anything else. This cover and ranking is an intelligent reference to how women are finally gaining as much notoriety, financial success and power as men. But placing a woman in a men’s ranking list in order to empower or appreciate her essentially defeats the entire purpose.
It makes me wonder, won’t measuring women’s success through a metric and lens that’s been created for and by men end up limiting us, rather than liberating us?
For instance, recently the internet has been seeing a surge of women joking about how the oldest daughters in a household end up being some of the toughest ‘men’ you’ll ever meet. While there is some truth to this, and we get what the joke means, many elder daughters do grow up having a Type A personality (people who are typically ambitious, competitive, high-achieving, highly organized, goal-oriented and proactive with their goals). It’s also sad that such personality traits are automatically associated with being a man, and a positive male role model, in fact.
There are studies that imply that women are productive in ways that differ from men, primarily because of how our hormones function differently from men. So, if our neurochemical processes regarding career advancement are different to men’s, then surely it’s unfair and inaccurate to measure women’s success through such a lens.
So, is it possible that as women, we’re still being goaded into wanting the approval of the men around us to feel successful? Is it possible that we’re being coaxed into wanting to be a part of the boys’ club to feel good enough, powerful enough, empowered enough?
I appreciate the stunning, androgynous looks that Kim Kardashian has sported in the shoot for GQ, and love how the piece is a disruption to gender stereotypes. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder, and ask how healthy it is for women to chase success and validation in a system that doesn’t truly care for us.
