All the different topics of discussion throughout the chapter connect to form a bigger picture and a bigger problem, oppression. In a Ted talk video I watched Sherly Dunn introduce this centuries moral challenge and how it applies to women today. This moral challenge happens to be the struggle with oppression. Sherly talks about a young girl in China who was almost unable to continue schooling because her parents thought it a waste of money since she would be working in the rice fields anyways. No one believed that she could do outstanding in school and make something else of herself, something that she wanted. She also faced classism where in that part of China there was not a real road to travel to class on, and parents struggled to afford schooling. .though she does end up finishing high school and going to a vocational school for accounting. Throughout the video she tells different stories of girls who have accomplished their goals despite the cruel and negative challenges. Some however get their visions of themselves blurred by what they should be instead of embracing who they are and take their own lives or settle for less because they feel they are not good enough or are not content.
I feel like both genders (in different ways) are oppressed and not one gender specifically is trying to keep the other down, but until we learn to drop the stereotypes and stop letting our biased views determine what we think and how we act towards someone, oppression is going to stay around. I know how mean girls can be with their cliques and taunting for not being the same as them, but we see it in movies like “Mean Girls” that would give a young girl the idea that that’s how girls in high school should act and dress .This movie also displays many stereotypes referring to girls as fat, freaks, ugly, and sluts.In the case for a boy that he should play football in high school and to be cool you have to party and get girls. We become oppressed by these expectations and some of the things deemed as the norm because if you are not fitting them, then you must be a bad person and not good enough. .. which is hardly the case. If people would just focus on bettering themselves instead of degrading others oppression might not be next centuries moral challenge.