Imagine spring break in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sandy beaches, beautiful sunsets and endless sight-seeing. The reality: conference rooms, crisp collars, notepads, pens and lectures. I was gifted with the most eye-opening and unexpected trip of a lifetime.
I was encouraged by my summer internship at the Inter-American Foundation to attend a human and women’s rights seminar in Brazil sponsored by the United States Department of State, UNICEF, the government of Brazil, Mary Kay Inc. and other organizations. At the seminar, we met people from Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Mexico and were able to overcome a language barrier to articulate issues regarding women’s rights and most importantly, human rights.
We met the United States Ambassador to Brazil Thomas Shannon and United Nations Millennium Campaign Director Corinne Woods. Woods was the very person who directed the UN Millennium Development Goals, the subject of the 2012 IB Group 4 project. One issue discussed was women’s involvement in sports and ways to combat the stereotype of femininity and objectification. CEO positions are often dominated by men, and only about two percent of CEOs are women. Regardless, in countries like Brazil, Uruguay and Chile, women are constantly criticized for simply playing soccer, a so-called “masculine” activity.
Women’s rights and feminism is entirely different in the U.S. than it is in Africa, Asia or any other continent—a difference we should be aware of. There were concerns that Western consumerism only objectifies women through demeaning advertisements featuring thin, tanned and ultimately fake women. This concern was raised in contrast to the idea that Western consumerism empowers women.
I learned of issues regarding domestic violence, rape, job inequality and inequality as a whole that stem from gender-stereotyping and oppressive, dated culture. Feminists and those who feel strongly about feminism seek to obliterate all these issues, and that is where a commonality between begins to emerge.