{"id":1570,"date":"2012-12-14T10:20:11","date_gmt":"2012-12-14T18:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mixhart.ca\/blog\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2012-12-14T15:34:34","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T23:34:34","slug":"the-cure-for-sexism-is-empathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mixhart.ca\/index.php\/the-cure-for-sexism-is-empathy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cure For Sexism is Empathy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m writing a few freelance articles on the subject of the objectification of women and girls–the dehumanization which leads to violence.<\/p>\n

As I write, I discover more pieces to a puzzle that has plagued me since I was old enough to understand I am female.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong> We, as members of a patriarchal society, get that women are dehumanized into sexual body parts. But the why has been missing. Why has it always been women?<\/p>\n

Through my own research, I now understand the essence of the dehumanization of women (misogyny).<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is lack of empathy for the female human form. Empathy\u00a0is what divides the women from the men.<\/strong> I believe motherhood prepares a woman’s brain for empathy. We naturally have a flood of chemicals that set us up for this: oxytocin. A recent study in the Globe and Mail<\/a>, suggests that fathers receiving oxytocin demonstrate much more attentive, empathetic treatment of their children.<\/p>\n

Thus, throughout history, women have a natural boost to developing empathy for other humans. This does not get men off the hook; rather, they must view themselves as eager students and look to the women of our society as leaders in empathy. Women are our esteemed teachers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong> The route of empathy must be taught. Our mothers and fathers teach us how to view women. Do we view them as sexual objects or human beings?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When an empathetic woman views men, even the most sexually attractive men, she sees beyond the sexual body parts.<\/p>\n

She sees a human being first, someone’s son, brother, father.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong> Dehumanizing a human hurts an empathetic person. So empathetic people don’t do it.<\/p>\n

Some men have been taught empathy for all humans. These men don’t objectify women into sexual body parts. And in a paradox, some men don’t objectify the women in their life; they’ve been taught selective<\/em> empathy (for mothers, sisters) yet, they continue to objectify other women.<\/p>\n

What needs to\u00a0be taught is non-selective empathy. Empathy for the entire human race<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

If children are taught empathy for all women by their parents and important adult figures in their lives (teachers), violence against women and girls will significantly decrease, perhaps cease.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
All phototgraphs in this post by Mix Hart, 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Popular culture convinces us female dehumanization is the acceptable norm<\/strong>.\u00a0Because our entire culture is set up to publicly objectify women, it is difficult to even know when one is doing it themselves.<\/p>\n

But every time you forget that there’s a human being attached to those body parts<\/strong> (someone’s daughter, sister, mother), all the little boys and girls in your life take note;<\/strong>\u00a0they learn it’s okay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m writing a few freelance articles on the subject of the objectification of women and girls–the dehumanization which leads to violence. As I write, I discover more pieces to a puzzle that has plagued me since I was old enough … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[1388,3113,118,1389,1019,724,1277],"class_list":["post-1570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feminism","tag-empathy","tag-feminism","tag-mindfulness-training","tag-misogyny","tag-sexism","tag-womanhood","tag-women"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t