On Patriarchy, Foreignness and Womanhood

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International girls and women exist in a patriarchal structure in which global mobility, cultural norms, as well as gender roles and stereotypes set restrictions to their freedom to exist in intercultural contexts.
The intersectionality of being a woman and an expat, immigrant, refugee, tourist, or any other type of foreigner, possibly of different religious and ethnic background, set the stage for all kinds of discrimination and societal expectations.
Disclaimer: This is my story, but I've heard similar stories from women from very different backgrounds to mine. If you truly listen to what I am saying, you'll know that I am criticising the structures which limit women's safety and freedom, no matter who is reinforcing them, including myself - and I've surely had to check myself. When women speak of men (*), they always mean men with an asterix - the predatory ones, not the ones we love and who protect us. There are also beautiful examples of women holding power, and ugly examples of foreigners' presence abroad, but those are stories for another video.
I love my fellow human beings regardless of their religion, ethnicity, passport, education level, or the thickness of their wallets, and demonstrate this with my everyday actions. Hope you do so as well.
▶️ Check out my other videos:
How to feel at home abroad (moving to Kenya): • How to Feel at Home Ab...
Mistakes we make in intercultural love: • Mistakes We Make in In...
What I learned living in Nairobi, Kenya: • 5 Things I Learned Liv...
What I learned living in Wuhan, China: • What I Learned Living ...
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0:00 being an international girl
1:24 home & disrespect towards "other women"
2:43 disrespect towards "other women"
3:48 direspect towards "own women"
5:09 control over "own women"
6:43 fetishization & safety
9:04 limiting women's freedom
10:17 women being a wolf to other women
11:28 the good men & gift of international life
#solotravel #livingabroad #patriarchy #solofemaletraveler #solofemaletravel #pickme #internationalstudents #immigration #expatlife #femaletravel #intercultural #international

Пікірлер: 54

  • @thiacari
    @thiacariАй бұрын

    Haha in China someone stopped me on my run and asked "Can I kiss you". And I was often called "kaifang" open. My relationships there went well, but I got to know people slowly at university, or then men that had been abroad and saw foreign women as normal people.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    Yep, so kaifang! 💃🏼 And that of course means they’d be entitled to have access to you. I interacted way too much with the type of men who only saw me as an exotic fantasy, thinking that they liked me. 🤡 Luckily I also had some amazing friends and also met some lovely men there. 💕 My mom still laughs at when a man ran after us in Shanghai marriage market. 😁

  • @marieclaireasseko
    @marieclaireassekoАй бұрын

    Aino from 2020 was unhinged by the statements 😅 I never heard that tension in your voice in your videos

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    I can only be thankful that there’s not much video material of me prior to 2020 😂 In that particular time, I had been called a “tolerant wh*re”, which was a trending term for Finnish women dating an immigrant man.

  • @marieclaireasseko

    @marieclaireasseko

    Ай бұрын

    @@ainoluo That is wild! 😨😨😨 The correlation you made between women increasingly leading their own lives by means of better education, work & resources and society (almost as a result) simultaneously exerting increasing pressure on us to behave a certain way really resonated with me. That’s so true! If we don’t feel like a threat (i.e. stick to culturally-accepted expectations), we’re harmless. But if we’re persistently pushing the boundaries, we need to be subdued or worse suppressed 😓

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    @@marieclaireasseko Yeah, I made that assumption based on the hate I’ve received and as time went by, it started increasingly be focused on my age / looks, assumed income and full expenses (which I’ve never shared with even my mom 😅), and education. Quite interesting!

  • @Lantronic
    @LantronicАй бұрын

    It is a sick world. Love hearing all your perspective. Stay safe.

  • @Lantronic

    @Lantronic

    Ай бұрын

    And sorry for what you have been through. I can't imagine.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    Thank you! 🌷 Things (also good ones) happen when you put yourself out there. Lessons, lessons :)

  • @nanlog4303
    @nanlog4303Ай бұрын

    ... what exactly was the point you were trying to get across ? Violence against women happens everywhere. Stereo typing happens everywhere. Sisterhood can be forgotten and turned against you seemed like it might be the underlying message ? Also the comment : "hope you're not converting" - can it not also mean that " from the general western public conception that moslem women are oppressed ( which I personally believe to be untrue) that the person has your best interest at heart? One super true statement was - cultural differences can easily obscure the red flags. BTW I just noticed thay you have a very deep dark voice. You would make a superb David Attenborough programme maker together with your impressive video editing skills. BTW you are a beautiful personality. Stay SAFE!

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    I’ve noticed many people have no idea what women go through in general, let alone when you consider intersectionality - in my case what I have experience of is the foreignness. And how much worse experiences many other women than myself have had, but those are their stories to share if they wish. So the point was to shed light on that intersection of womanhood and foreignness and the different struggles one may go through there, so that we can collectively do better. And as I say in the video, it’s not just men and foreigners, it has even sometimes been myself who has enforced those behaviours and I’ve had to learn to be better.

  • @nanlog4303

    @nanlog4303

    Ай бұрын

    OK. Understood. Try making documentaries... You might surprise yourself..

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    @@nanlog4303 Actually used to be a dream of mine :)

  • @julius43461

    @julius43461

    Ай бұрын

    ​@@nanlog4303 "moslem women are oppressed ( which I personally believe to be untrue)" Holy chicken wings, imagine being this lost. How are things in La La land this time of the year?

  • @trukenyan
    @trukenyanАй бұрын

    Whoa, there is a lot of hurt here…! I wish you strength, good health and wisdom. You are you, and that’s all that matters!

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    Thank you! 🙏🏻 These are things I slowly remembered and jotted down in moments when something new happened. I’ve been processing things and hoped putting them all out there can help someone to notice things earlier and hopefully avoid spaces and people with such a low vibe. :)

  • @trukenyan

    @trukenyan

    Ай бұрын

    @@ainoluo Get a few of your friends to form a big circle and collapse it to give you a biggg hug, without saying a word, for like 10 minutes! Stay well.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    @@trukenyan haha aww, luckily I’ve had my friends do that in times of need - not for 10 minutes though, need to start asking more 😁

  • @hildeeliseeikenes
    @hildeeliseeikenes22 күн бұрын

    Asante sana for a very interesting movie. We have to take care of each other’s

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    21 күн бұрын

    Thank you for watching! I’m starting to think that the whole world population needs a Joe Dispenza retreat or something to regulate their nervous systems, heal, and treat each other better 😮‍💨

  • @hildeeliseeikenes

    @hildeeliseeikenes

    21 күн бұрын

    @@ainoluo❤ Are you going to Mombasa in July? I will be there

  • @IisusKhristosGospod
    @IisusKhristosGospod29 күн бұрын

    Greetings!!! Kindly please let me humbly encourage you! A refined gold has to go through the fire before it becomes into a perfect conditions. Yes we live in a world where most things are broken. Life is so beautiful because there is beauty for ashes! Once you start spreading love ,kindness and compassion around yourself because of what life has put you through you start to become strong spiritually ,mentally ,emotionally and physically and you become a new person in your awareness and you see the world differently and you start to devolop greatness in your inner being and your outer self shine with greatnesa

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    29 күн бұрын

    Thank you so much! I’ve recently started practicing approaching everything with and as love. Love is not only our romantic partnerships, or even other relationships, but we can approach every encounter, our work, our routines, and of course ourselves with love. And hopefully in the process make this world a little bit less broken.

  • @IisusKhristosGospod

    @IisusKhristosGospod

    29 күн бұрын

    Every human being is born with a great purpose on this earth. Yes I agree with you we approach every aspect of our lives with love and the reason we do it is because we have experienced the brokeness in this world. Once you become spiritually aware of this world you become empowered to share the healing process to those who are facing brokeness and it's always a joy to see people's life get transformed and that always make an impact to the next generation. Some of us before we attain our purpose we always go through a transitioning period which is painful and the life experiences always shape us for something greater. You are destined for greatness and a time is coming in your life where you will step fully into your purpose. It's a great joy to see you are reading great books and working on your well being it's the most precious gift you can give to yourself and then to others Kindly please I have also faced the brokeness in this world and I found ever lasting peace joy ,completing healing when I build the intimacy with the creator of my life and universe. Kindly please allow me to humbly encourage you to read the teaching of Jesus Christ in the new testament. Especially this verses John 4, Luke19 and John 8 I was so inspired by the way Jesus Christ show compassion ,kindness ,love and humility to the broken world even when the world and religious leaders showed envy and hatred His Love for the world didn't stop what he faced injustices and that's why many people emulate his ways especially those have faced the brokeness! The creator of your life who's in charge of the breath you take in will do marvelous things in your life than what you ever dreamed. Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever Amen!!

  • @shamsofnai
    @shamsofnai22 күн бұрын

    The visuals are amazing

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    22 күн бұрын

    Thank you! Took long to go through my videos 😄

  • @ainoluo
    @ainoluoАй бұрын

    Hey friends! I can see some comments are not properly coming through, KZread does it sometimes and usually gets it fixed. But I can see all of them on the backend, thank you all for support! 😊

  • @clementwanyande3061
    @clementwanyande306121 күн бұрын

    thank you

  • @bintokiria5338
    @bintokiria5338Ай бұрын

    I would love to try out solo traveling in the nearby future.... It's worse for us, girls/ women who work in male dominated professions,, I personally got into arguments with men who make misogynistic comments...

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    And you definitely should! 💕 I have had so many wonderful experiences traveling solo and part of it was also being young and naive. My main lesson was to stop people pleasing myself into stupid situations. I was lucky that when I was in such industry it was in Finland, so the professional misogyny tended to be only limited to the older men, and at least not visible in younger generation. Things do change! 💪🏻🌷

  • @thiacari

    @thiacari

    Ай бұрын

    I'm also in a male dominated industry, in Finland it's ok, there are a few older men with problems but I just kick them out of the company and don't take them back 😂

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    @@thiacari 😅💪🏻

  • @clementwanyande3061
    @clementwanyande306121 күн бұрын

    beautifull message

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    19 күн бұрын

    Thank you dear and thanks for watching 💕

  • @clementwanyande3061

    @clementwanyande3061

    18 күн бұрын

    @@ainoluo you are most welcome.

  • @boones999
    @boones9997 күн бұрын

    Sometimes the KZread algorithm does wierd things. No idea how I got to this video as I seem to have close to zero shared opinions with you. I honestly don't even understand most of what you're talking about. But I suppose that's up to our vastly different lived experiences and (I assume) political standpoints. In any case, I just wanted to complement you on your extensive video archive and editing skills. You must have been through a lot of footage to make this reel :) I also wanted to commend you on your courage. I realise you're probably not a person looking for a traditional high value partner, or even monogamy at all, but nontheless putting a video like this out is pretty brave. But if I understand the gist of your argument right, that's just patriarchy talk anyway. Just one specific comment. At 9:30 you mention that older women have more choices in choosing a partner. In reality it's obviously the other way around, at least if you're talking about heterosexual women living in a large city. But I suppose I just misunderstood you. Anyway, thanks for some pretty pictures and best of luck.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    6 күн бұрын

    @@boones999 Heya, thanks for your comment! I really appreciate you taking time to watch comment even if everything (or anything lol) doesn’t resonate. 🙏🏻 You may have misunderstood some of my standpoints, as I think I’m very much building a traditional, monogamous, high-value (which can have many definitions and I’m certainly not taking the obvious route) partnership. :) That wasn’t necessarily the case though when I was younger, and since this video sums up more than a decade of my experiences the voice of a younger me may come through at times. I get your point about the older women having less choice in the dating market - perhaps I could put it this way: with more life experience often comes wealth (less dependency) and the ability to know yourself and assess what you want and need - to not just have anyone, but to have someone who matches the version you know you want to be.

  • @MenPayItForward
    @MenPayItForwardАй бұрын

    Interesting video-thank you for sharing your experiences as a female in a globalizing world, in the first quarter of the 21st century. Do you think humanity, specifically intersexual relations, will fundamentally change during this century? I expect that I would enjoy hearing your takes on this, given how you speak and think in the above video. I can imagine that technology will continue to atomize human societies, making relationships, both platonic and intimate, more fraught, that ectogenesis might emerge as a viable technology, and that race/ethnicity/culture boundaries will continue to erode. [[You should marry and have children with a Finnish man]] is a belief I presently hold; I do understand that this belief exists on tenuous ground. It subverts individual choice for a collective good, i.e. social cohesion and ethno-cultural preservation. Also, the belief differs in its strength in my mind when I think in 25, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000 year timelines (e.g., this belief is stronger on timelines for humanity of 25k years), but cannot help but have it in the here and now, given how long I expect to live. I do also believe there is value in a belief such as "No ethnically Finnish children = No future for ethnic Finnish". For data on my perspective, I am an American and an atheist. I am married 1 year and dated for 3 years. My wife and I are both data scientists. I've lived for around a quarter of a century. With respect to the above beliefs applied to the United States, I hold it as "No European American children = No European American future". I've subscribed and would be happy to listen to more of your videos.

  • @MenPayItForward

    @MenPayItForward

    Ай бұрын

    I think, now perusing your other videos, I understand why this video, being that it is a reflective essay on civilizational properties (e.g., the treatment of women by men and vice versa), rather than other videos you've made, was recommended to me by KZread.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    I think you can already guess that I don’t share your belief. You mention social cohesion and ethno-cultural preservation as common good. For me the freedom to love and choose the people we share our lives with based on our values, as well as exchange of new ideas is more valuable and has nothing to do with skin tone or hair texture. I actually do value social harmony a lot and it needs to be a special circumstance you’d see me trying to rock any boat, and this video is a result of such circumstance. Some people rock the boat themselves when they see and project on someone they assume to be different from themselves. :) People have always established cities for trade of products, services and ideas. They’ve always explored, as well as looked for partners from other villages. Now we just live in a world where we can go further and faster. A fully ethnic Finnish family to me is just as beautiful as a mixed Finnish and Kenyan family. They’ve been through different, but often also very similar challenges and successes.

  • @thiacari
    @thiacariАй бұрын

    Suomi!

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    🇫🇮🙌🏻

  • @Tsathogguah
    @TsathogguahАй бұрын

    If there were really a western patriachy keeping you down, would you actually be able to have this "international woman" lifestyle, or would you be stuck in a hijab?

  • @julius43461

    @julius43461

    Ай бұрын

    No you don't get it, she is oppressed, the chicks in hijab are not. Makes perfect sense, what's your problem?

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    Have I said I’ve let anything keep me down? Did you miss it when I say there are women who experience things worse than me? Some of them may have a hijab, some won’t. By the way, half of the stuff here was not initiated by someone “Western”.

  • @marcusaureliusantoninus2597
    @marcusaureliusantoninus2597Ай бұрын

    Thank you for sharing your perspective. I must say, however... The fact people prefer their own kind, so to say, surprised you? Or finding out that most women are not really "sisters" to each other, much less than they are representatives of their own people? Well, it's easily explainable if you are very young. Still, it troubles me that in the West this line of delusional thinking became mainstream that people are presented at a very tender age. I am Russian, and even though you separated "Russian and Western women" in your video, I must say, we are Western. Even though I probably would not want us to, culture is a given. Young women in Russia think pretty much like you. Not all at this moment, since Russia was separated from the "mainstream" Western culture for several decades, but we are steadily coming there, and that makes me worried. The Gods of Copybook Headings have no mercy, and I am afraid us Western people will soon learn it the hard way.

  • @ainoluo

    @ainoluo

    Ай бұрын

    Actually, my intention was not to separate Russian and Western women. I have many Russian friends and through talking with them I know some Russians consider themselves “Western” and some don’t, so one can either take what I said as a separation or expansion, as in Russian as a sub-category of Western - however one prefers. As mentioned in the video, these are my experiences from the past 15 years, so yes, I was very young when some of these things happened, and yes, it did come to me as a surprise how badly some people treat each other as I always had friendly curiosity towards anything or anyone foreign. I wouldn’t say people prefer their own kind. Some do, but in my experience, as I also mention in the video, some rather like to talk down on their “own kind” and actively try to associate with someone different. For me my “own kind” has always meant people with same values as me, independent of ethnicity, passport, or religion. Some of the party clips in the video were from Russia, by the way! I didn’t have a good phone camera back when I visited so didn’t have many clips to use from there although I visited some gorgeous spots.