The concept of learned helplessness is when a person experiences many failures in any situation, thinks that nothing will change even if he does something, that events are not under his control, and that he will never be successful in that regard again, and loses the courage to try again. Learned helplessness, through the socialization process in the current social structure, teaches/gives women so strongly what they should do and what they should not do that the woman cannot go beyond those stereotypes and rules in the social sphere and does not even think of taking a new/different action/trial. She learns to lose, in a sense, by showing the appropriate attitude and behavior.
The woman who lives within the existing cultural patterns in society cannot go beyond those cultural patterns, she adjusts herself accordingly to whatever those patterns say, and exhibits attitudes and behaviors accordingly. . For example, “the more I was treated like a woman, the more I became a woman.” Inevitably, I adapted. If I was thought to have no strength to flip cars or open bottles, I found myself strangely powerless. As in the expressions "If a safe was thought to be heavy for me, I inexplicably found it heavy too."
One of the most important examples of women experiencing learned helplessness is the violence they have been subjected to. It is the woman's inability to move far enough away from the environment where she experiences violence, or her inability to stop the violence, and her silence. That is, “In reality, beating a woman; It causes damage to self-esteem, self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. This event causes conflicts that create storms in the emotional sphere of the woman and 'destroy her whole world'. As the intensity of violence increases, the degree to which self-esteem is damaged also increases. The woman feels stupid, ugly, worthless, inadequate. The woman continues to live in the same vicious circle, thinking that all this happening to her is just her "fate". Staying in a violent environment for many years can cause a woman's feelings of hopelessness and helplessness to become chronic and ingrained. Inability to cope, to control and to get away from this situation, to people exposed to violence It also points to the helplessness of its name.
On the other hand, it is effective in many discourses in society in helping women learn about helplessness. Even though the woman tries to escape from the violent environment and takes steps for this purpose, there are people who prevent her, put a barrier in front of her so that she cannot leave, and break her resistance; “'Marriage is not a bed of roses, you are the one who will make bad things good', 'You will always stand by your husband no matter what', 'Your wife may be under pressure', 'Motherhood and companionship are your first duty', 'You are a woman, take care of yourself', 'You are a mother, Statements such as 'you will manage for your children', 'even if you vomit blood, you will say you drank cranberry sherbet', 'your place is in your home', 'your husband is the father of your children even if he makes mistakes', 'a man is the pillar of the house', etc., come and go on women, it is useless. What will change if I do this? It will turn into thoughts that there will be no benefit in doing this, and helplessness will become chronic. Learned resilience, which is the ability to cope, should replace learned helplessness in women. In other words, the most important obstacle to women's human rights is the stereotyped/adopted cultural prejudices in the social structure. These prejudices will only disappear when women leave learned helplessness aside and choose learned strength. Taking part equally and trying to exist as an individual/subject will make the woman stronger, take control of her own life, and rebuild herself by leaving the victim role. To all the women of the world; I wish for a world where everyone is free to direct their own destiny...
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