A student at the University of Vermont penned a thought-provoking essay for The Huffington Post, in which she claims the word “too” is sexist because of its negative use in reference to women.
Cameron Schaeffer, a freshman at the university, said she came to her realization when having a conversation with a friend about a new haircut.
“There is no proper way for a woman to cut her hair, let alone do anything right in this world,” she wrote. “There seems to be an unobtainable 1-millimeter-wide mark of perfection, and none of us can reach it. Everything is too this or too that.”
She went on to say that she began seeing the word written in reference to women in various extremes.
“I hear women and men alike each day describing women as too something. But what does it really mean when you call a woman too? I asked myself, ‘too what?’” she said.
“I have determined that too means you're calling a woman too far away from your idyllic vision of what a woman should be. Something as small as calling a woman's dress too long or her muscles too built has a much larger social construct.”
Schaeffer, a self-described “well-versed feminist,” credited her realization to “social pressure and perception” that made her believe she was was always "too" something and far from perfect.
“It goes beyond looks, even. In every context, it seems to be damned if you do and damned if you don't for women,” she wrote.
“It's either she's too prude or she's too promiscuous, she's too delicate and girly or she's too aggressive and masculine, she's too dumb or she's too bookish. The list goes on.”
Do you think Schaeffer’s assessment of the word “too” is accurate?
Sources: The Huffington Post, Daily Mail