Henrik Ibsen, a playwright, a poet and a director was a man ahead of his time. Not only in the way he framed and wrote his plays but also in his mindset. He was a well-known catalyst in the early waves of feminism and he provoked the thoughts of many well-known people at the time.
“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view”
– Henrik Ibsen
However, the truth is that there still isn’t equality among genders even today. Ibsen talked about how women cannot be themselves in such a male-dominated world since nobody sees anything from their perspective. But this isn’t exclusively for males and females. Gender isn’t binary. Recently we saw Trump banning transgender people from joining the military troops. This triggered a massive outcry, not only amongst those of the LGBT community but millions upon millions of supporters. The perspective held by Trump is very different from those who are being discriminated on a day to day basis. Trump, who has a conservative mindset, believes that people of the LBGT society aren’t functioning members of society, whereas, on the other hand, protestors see these people as the same as everyone else. It is this difference of perception, or maybe Trump’s lack of effort to sympathise, which is causing this outrage among various communities and societies
There are many other instances of gender inequality which have risen from a difference of perspectives, including the famous gender pay gap, the fact that 4%of the fortune 500 companies have female CEOS. This may have arisen from an illusion of power when it comes to masculinity. One of the factors that lead to this mindset is how throughout the years, male figures have always been seen as more authoritative in the unspoken hierarchy of society.
In conclusion, Ibsen’s wise words are still applicable in the modern time, maybe even more so than before. People need to draw inspiration from him to be able to fight for equality amongst all.
Very well explained! I also talked about how men are viewed as more authoritative and thats why society is mostly male dominated. Females are often thought of as being of lesser value than men and sometimes that their purpose is to entertain and support the ideals of a man. I find it interesting how you brought up the LGBTQ community because they are also facing a lot of prejudice and I think that it’s a very valid point to talk about. Living in a society with stereotypes on how people should be, it can definitely be difficult for outliers to feel welcome. With barely any representatives from the LGBTQ community in politics and the media, their voice isn’t as public and so people aren’t aware of the disparity between them and the rest of society. If there were to be a metaphorical hierarchy of society in the past it would be : Men at the top, women at the bottom, and no consideration for anyone not conforming to either gender. Today however, men are still at the top, women are close behind and the LGBTQ community are behind. Although equality hasn’t been reached, I think that improvements have definitely been made and the issue is being recognised more and more.