The cultural background through which a woman was brought up in plays an important role in shaping their morals and attitudes. Depending on how culture stereotypes women and girls, it has a way of influencing their vulnerability to violence and their treatment to gender in their future relationships. Women who are brought up to believe that a man has absolute authority are likely to fall victims of abuse and violence in their relationships. Similarly, girls brought up in abusive environments are likely to develop fear towards males and hence being inclined to sex relationships (Hassouneh & Nancy 315).
Women in the same sex relationships have always defended their stand, terming their relationships safe and with less risks. Such women could have grown up knowing their mothers to be loving and caring while their fathers as violent and abusive. Such an experience makes them believe that men can never give them the love and support they need and hence preferring to get it from fellow female partners.
Females brought up in an environment where they are regarded as a lesser sex may tend to engage in self-defensive actions to survive. In their efforts to evade the recurrence of the violence they experienced in their childhood, females are likely to make decisions that will prevent them from falling victims. Whenever there are narratives of women who have taken particular decisions, they are likely to quote an incidence that happened to them or other women. The decisions they make are hence justified by the fact that they did not want to fall victims. Depending on the length of time they have been subjected to such experiences, it may serve as a permanent defensive mechanism (Crawford 155).
There are instances where women have watched their mothers being abused before their eyes, yet they seem so helpless. Such incidences become even more dangerous when their mothers cannot live such abusive relationships because of cultural values or because they do not have the ability to take care of their children by themselves. The experience makes girls brought up in such environments to resort to never being married. The fear of them being abused and not being able to walk out of the relationship at their convenience makes them to either stay single or engage in the same sex relationships.
Girls and women who have faced criminal charges before are likely to face discrimination because of their gender. In order to survive in the society, that now looks at them as real criminals and not just ex-convicts, they develop certain characters and behaviors just to prove their worth. Such women realize that they may face insults due to their past lifestyles and hence becoming violent and even bullies. Knowing that there is little they can do to prove they are changed, most of them go ahead to prove that they are ‘bad girls’ and nobody should dare mess around with them.
Conclusion
The early stages of life are important in shaping a girls attitude and outlook towards life. As girls grow, they observe their female relatives and the kind of relationships they are in and hence affecting their future decisions on the same. Such attitudes can only be reversed when a woman realizes that what she saw and experienced may not necessarily be true and hence working at looking at life in a new perspective.
Works cited
Crawford, Mary E. Transformations: Women, gender, and psychology. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006.
Hassouneh, Dena, and Nancy Glass. "The influence of gender role stereotyping on women's experiences of female same-sex intimate partner violence." Violence Against Women 14.3 (2008): 310-325.
